Unbroken
by Sabaku no Zak
Summary: "I will stay with you and protect you, that's a promise, and I never go back on my word!" Naruto saves Ino from a terrible fate. She begins to fear and despise men, but learns a new respect for the loser from her academy days.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: First off I don't own Naruto. My story takes place directly after the Waves Arc and this first chapter contains explicit content. WARNING- If rape offends you, I suggest you find another story, while I will only have the one instance I understand that it is a touchy subject for some people, and I ask that you understand that I do not condone such actions, and am only using it as a plot device. I do not claim to be an expert on psychiatry but I do have some knowledge of the effects of rape on the mind of the victim, thus if you think that my fic could use some fine tuning in that department, feel free to make suggestions, I will take them into consideration. Flames for the sake of flaming will be ignored.**

OoO

It was late in the evening in Konohagakure as two shinobi from Suna stood at the end of an alley, looking bored. "Do we really have to go along with this dog and pony show?" whispered the younger of the two, making sure they were alone and couldn't be overheard. They both wore the typical garb of Suna shinobi, though the younger man was clean shaven, and the older had a goatee. "Why in the hell are we waiting for an entire month to begin the invasion? It doesn't make any sense."

The older man dropped the cigarette he had just finished to the ground and stomped it out before answering. "I don't know, but I do know that those are the orders from the Kazekage and we are going to follow them." Emphasizing his point with a stern glare at his younger compatriot. "If it was just an attack on Konoha, I would agree that now is as good a time as any. In fact the sooner the better. But if I had to venture a guess Lord Kazekage is waiting for when it will make the greatest impact on the Land of Fire as a whole. Nearly all the lands Feudal Lords and persons of interest will be gathered here for the final part of the Chunin exams. Does that satisfy your curiosity?" The older man returned his gaze to the streets, watching as civilians milled about the street, closing up shop, or heading home.

"Ok, that's understandable, but then why not tell us?" The younger man kicked the dirt at his feet feeling restless.

"Really, you don't know? We're ninja! If the invasion plan gets leaked, we need to be able to keep as many of the details a secret as possible. You were told all you needed to know, quit acting like a rookie and do what you're told." replied the older man as his eyes stayed on the emptying street.

"Ok, ok, damn. I just wish this assignment wasn't so fucking boring."

"Idiot, just be glad we're not Baki, he's in charge of keeping an eye on the monster. And don't worry next month we're going to have plenty of action and then more job requests from the fallout." The street was mostly empty now, and he was about to suggest that they head back to their temporary room, until a young blonde kunoichi walked by the alley, identifiable by the Konoha headband she had tied around her waist. Sure she was young but he was just as bored as the younger man, and between the two of them, no one would ever know what happened to her. "Hey, how about we entertain ourselves with that?" he asked nudging his fellow shinobi and pointing at the young girl walking the street alone.

"Hmmm a little young but she's not bad looking. Sounds good to me!" and the two men vanished.

OoO

Ino was heading home after finishing her latest D-rank mission and getting a forewarning from Asuma about the upcoming Chunin exams. They were told to make their decisions about whether or not they would be participating and give their answer the next afternoon. She very much wanted to so that she could impress Sasuke and shove it in Sakura's face. To be fair Sasuke didn't give any of his fangirls the time of day, but perhaps being promoted along with him, he would start paying more attention to her. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she imagined going on dates with Sasuke.

It was getting late as she continued on her way home, the streets empty except for her. Shikmaru and Chouji had offered to walk her home, but she had declined in order to be alone with her thoughts, though she was now seriously wishing she had accepted. 'God these streets are creepy at night when no one is around.' she thought to herself as she turned a corner, only a block away from her home and her family's flower shop.

She was just passing the first alley on her block when a hand shot out from the dark and pulled her into said alley by the arm. Before she had time to scream a gag was tied around her mouth and she was shoved roughly to the ground. Towering above her were two men, both ninja, one looking at her the other making sure they hadn't been spotted. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, she brought up her hands in order to use her **Mind Transfer Jutsu **on the man looking at her and hopefully catch the other man off guard but the man looking at her quickly grabbed both her arms and forced her back to the ground.

"Mmmm We have a feisty one here. " Said the younger sand nin as he held her arms down against the ground looking into her panicking eyes. It was starting to turn him on, and not only was she good looking, she was a little more developed than most girls her age. "It's almost too bad that you can't put up much more of a fight than this, it was too easy. Oh well, we will make sure to have plenty of fun with you to make up for the lack luster hunt." he said and he moved off from on top of her and positioned himself behind her head while the older man finally turned to face her.

Ino was near hyperventilating at this point, realizing what these two men were going to do to her. She was a shinobi, she had learned that in this line of work came certain occupational hazards but this was almost surreal. She was going to be raped, and there was nothing she could do to fight back. Her upper body was held down and she couldn't make enough noise through the gag to alert anyone. She could already feel the tears running down her face and she tried kicking violently to free herself from her captor. When the other man turned towards her, she knew there was going to be no escape. 'Oh God no, no, no, no,' was all she could think as the man approached her legs with an amused hungry look in his eyes.

"Yeah I'm a little surprised at the lack of security in town. So lets get down to it before someone does show up." The older man said, while pulling the young girl's pants and panties off in one swift pull barely registering her struggle. He then forced apart her legs, getting a clear view of her fair womanhood. He then pushed up her shirt and bra so that her small breasts were visible.

Ino was trying to thrash about but it was futile, her muscles were already sore and she hadn't so much as budged an inch. 'Please somebody save me...anybody...Sasuke...Sasuke...' She turned her head away from her assailant now that she was completely exposed and kept her eyes shut, tears flowing freely. She could feel as the man inserted two of his fingers into her and began playing roughly with her. No matter how much she didn't want this, her body began reacting to the stimulation. The other man had moved to hold her hands down with one of his and began using his free hand to roughly grope her small chest, pinching her nipples. 'Please stop, no more.' Ino thought to herself as she kept her eyes tightly shut.

OoO

Naruto was walking the street late at night heading home after having eaten Ichiraku ramen with Iruka. He was hyped to hear about the Chunin exams from Kakashi and couldn't wait to be promoted one step closer to his dream of Hokage. It had been only a couple months since he had graduated from the academy, but his most recent mission in the Land of Waves had shown his team and himself just how far he had progressed in that time.

Naruto smiled to himself as he daydreamed about becoming a Chunin and then instantly being promoted to Hokage because he was so awesome. 'Then everyone in the village will acknowledge me and respect me.' Naruto thought, while imagining old man Sarutobi bowing down to him. He just turned a corner when some noise from the alley he was passing caused him to stop and peer into the dark crevice.

The sight he was met with made his stomach turn. Two men were holding down Ino with her clothes removed and a gag tied around her mouth. Her body was trembling and she was keeping her head turned away, but he could see the tears on her face from the light of the moon. One man was holding her arms down above her head and the other was controlling her legs and just beginning to undo the zipper on his pants. **'Kill them!' **a loud voice boomed inside Naruto's head. His anger was swelling and clouding his mind synchronizing with the venom from the voice in his head. A familiar feeling came over him as he lowered himself into a crouch and could feel his nails and teeth getting sharper. **'Kill them!' **The voice boomed again.

'What is this?' Naruto thought, as he could feel a strong power and urge to kill sweep through him, he could see a visible red chakra emerge from the skin on his hands. 'This is like when I fighting Haku.' Only a matter of seconds had passed and the boy almost couldn't be recognized with the deep whisker marks, red slitted eyes, and demonic chakra flowing in the form of a fox around his body.

**'You know who I am,' **Replied the voice as Naruto got the vision in his head of the large nine-tailed beast that had been sealed inside him. **'now kill them!'**

OoO

The younger sand nin was getting impatient for his turn while he groped the blonde kunoichi. "Come on man, get on with it so I can..." he didn't finish as he heard a squelch and was splattered with a wet substance. "Aww come on gross." he said as he looked up only to be met with a horrific sight. Another young ninja had appeared and he now had his arm through the chest of his superior. A cold sweat broke out across him, this was no regular boy, his features we animalistic and he was emanating such powerful chakra and killing intent that the man couldn't move.

Ino heard the sound as well and felt the wet, warm substance splash her body. The man above her head said something but her mind was already shutting down and she didn't register what he was saying. She did feel though as the weight keeping her legs apart was removed, at which point she opened her eyes, daring a peek. What she saw caused her tears to flow harder in hope and a little in fear. Standing before her was the dead last ninja from the academy but with an aura of anger and power surrounding him.

She couldn't even blink as the boy, she used to call a loser and never gave a second glace, threw a man, two times his size behind him, sending him sailing clear across the street and into the front window of a shop. Naruto then returned his gaze to the two remaining people in the alley, Ino's eye's meeting his. 'Is that even Naruto?' she thought fear returning at the thought that he might kill her too. His eyes showed a feral anger and malice that she had never seen anywhere. 'Better that than the alternative.' She resigned as she regained some compose and let herself relax and prepare for the end.

Naruto watched the fear in Ino's eye turn to sadness then slowly close. 'No, no more. I'll do this myself.' He looked down at himself once Ino's eyes closed and watched as the red chakra receded back into him.

The younger sand nin smirked as the threatening presence seemed to vanish from the boy. "Run out of gas kid?" He taunted standing up while pulling Ino on her feet in front of him. "I suggest you beat it if you want your little friend here to live." Still restraining her with one hand he used his free hand to pull out a kunai and place it at her throat.

"You wish!" replied Naruto and he made a sign with his hands. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Four more Narutos appeared and before the man could react, one had use the substitution jutsu to replace himself with Ino, then quickly brought one leg up between the man's spread legs.

"OW YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Cried the man as he fell to the ground holding his crotch. The four Narutos were upon him before he could retaliate or make even another sound and plunged four kunai deep into his chest. The sand nin convulsed, coughed up blood, and finally moved no more.

While Naruto was dealing with her assailant Ino realized she was free and quickly redressed herself then sat against the wall with her knees to her chest. Naruto turned to face her but she just looked at the man with kunai sticking out of him with hatred. She didn't say anything as Naruto sat down on the opposite side of the alley watching her.

Naruto waited patiently as he sat across from Ino. 'Damn, I don't even know what to say to her. It's not like I can say it's alright, or it's going to be ok, yaknow...damn it.'

**'Don't talk, just wait.' **replied the voice he heard before as if to answer him.

'Tch, a fine time for you to start talking to me, yaknow. She might just start treating me like all the villagers do, of course I can't really blame HER considering what I just did.'

Ino took her eyes off the dead body to peek at Naruto. She was grateful that he hadn't tried to console her or pity her, she wasn't sure she could take that at the moment. He seemed to be staring into the sky with a pained look on his face. 'I can believe that's the same Naruto, how did he get so strong? And what was that strange aura around him?' She wanted to ask him, but decided against it, frankly she was just glad he had come along when he did and saved her. She didn't want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't. 'He's gotten so strong in just a couple months...and I'm just...I always gave him a hard time.'

A couple minutes were spent in silence until Ino cleared her throat to get Naruto's attention. That brought his gaze from the sky to her, and looking into his piercing blue eyes, "Thank you, Naruto." Ino whispered.

OoO

**Well that's the end of chapter 1. I'd like to say that I'm not sure how often I'll be updating but reviews do motivate me quite a bit as they do a lot of writers, however I should also mention that there is no guarantee that it will keep me motivated. Yes this is a NaruIno fic, and I have no intentions of changing or adding to the pairing. No Ino is not my first choice in pairing with Naruto but NaruHina fics are all too frequent, and it's my opinion that a fics purpose is to deviate from canon. (otherwise I'd just be content watching the anime or reading the manga) So I hope anyone who reads this will enjoy what has yet to come.**

**Sabaku no Zak**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I will not be repeating that I don't own Naruto (except this one more time) so keep that in mind going forward. I liked how my first chapter came out though it did feel a little short, and I always try to make each progressing chapter a little longer than the last. I actually haven't written anything for years so I'm more than open to some feedback. For everyone's knowledge, the time span between the beginning of the attack to the end of the first part of this chapter is less than ten minutes.**

**OoO**

Naruto looked at Ino, a little surprised that she had thanked him, but he could see the hurt in her eyes. There was something in that pained look that he recognized, a loathing at ones self for being weak, and one of loneliness. He knew those two all too well, even if he couldn't fully empathize with her situation. He nodded at her then looked back up to the sky, the blackness interrupted by the small points of light. "You're welcome." He still wasn't sure there was anything he could say to her, and the Nine-tails seemed be remaining silent now.

Ino continued to look at Naruto, she couldn't help but feel a little comfort in his presence. 'He's struggling with something too.' It was clear to her from the look in his eyes. Normally she would have called him annoying, and told him to get lost, but suddenly things had changed. 'Every time he boasted about becoming Hokage...he really believed in himself, and he must be working really hard. He was never able to do the Clone Jutsu, but just now he created solid clones, and three of them at that.' It made her dream of being noticed by Sasuke, who generally seemed uninterested in the opposite sex, kind of childish in comparison to Naruto's. She glanced at the corpse laying at the back of the alley and shuddered, the memories of the incident hit her, and she vomited. 'I'm weak.'

"Ino!" Naruto called as he stood and was about to rush to her side, but her entire frame cringed away from him. He stopped midway and took a step back instead. "Are you alright Ino? Do you want me to take you home?" He knew that she lived in this neighborhood but he wasn't entirely sure where.

Ino shook her head, and heaved for a couple more seconds. The last place she wanted to be was anywhere near here, and unfortunately her house was less than two hundred feet from the place where she had almost been raped. She wanted to be as far from here as possible as soon as possible. "Could I stay at your place tonight?" Ino choked out. It was late, her father was away on a mission, and her mother was probably asleep by now, and she didn't want to have to recount this tale if she were awake.

"Yeah." Naruto replied. Ino tried to stand but stumbled. Naruto was about to move to catch her but thought better of it, instead he turned around and got down on one knee, holding his arms behind him. "Here, if you feel ok with it I can carry you." His offer was met with a weight against his back and arms around his neck. He carefully placed his arms behind her knees and stood up, then took off, leaving the grizzly scene behind them.

OoO

They arrived at his apartment, and Naruto set Ino down on his bed, where she curled up with her knees to her chest. "There's a small shower in the next room if you'd like to use it." Naruto said awkwardly, not sure what to say. "I don't have any clean clothes for you to wear, but if you tell me where you live, I can send a clone to go pick some up for you."

Ino nodded, "I live above the flower shop on the same street we were on, my room is on the top floor at the end of the hall. I laid my pajamas out on the end of the bed." she said. Naruto created a clone that jumped out the window, "When did you learn to do that?" she asked as she stared at where the clone had just been.

Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I took a scroll from old man Hokage on the evening after graduation, the Shadow Clone Jutsu was the first technique in it. It took me all night, but I finally learned it before Iruka caught me." His smile vanished as he remembered the events that transpired after. "Mizuki sensei told me that Iruka would let me graduate if I learned a jutsu from that scroll, but it was a trick." He fell silent, not sure if he should tell her everything that happened.

"Then how did you graduate?" Ino asked tentatively. 'Obviously he's gotten a lot stronger. He definitely doesn't seem like the Naruto I remember.'

"It's complicated." He said looking at the floor. 'I don't know if should tell her, I don't want her to think I'm a monster.'

**'Like me?' **Rumbled the Nine-tails, in his head.

Ino noticed Naruto's head snap up like he heard something. "What? What is it?" She asked looking around for what had drawn his attention.

"It's nothing." he replied shaking his head. "But back to your question, I'll tell you." He still wasn't sure about telling her, but she had a right to know. He just hoped that they could be friends once she knew, it felt like they both could use one.

OoO

"Lord Danzo. I've convinced him to bring Naruto Uzumaki in to be detained 'temporarily.'" Said the ANBU kneeling before the older man, with bandages around his head.

"Thank you, Foo." It had paid well for Danzo to have a loyal subordinate in the squad of ANBU black ops, whom were supposed to answer to only the Hokage. Danzo had gone to great lengths to place the seals on Torune's memory that could be activated and deactivated upon hearing key phrases. "It's clear that the seal is faulty, and the boy himself is a nuisance to the village. The Nine-tails would be better suited to a vessel that is more adept in the ninja arts, and one 'we' have more control over. I have 'Shin' prepared to receive the seal. His illness should be counteracted by the healing properties of the Nine-tails chakra. We will tell the others that the Jinchuriki went berserk and we were forced to put him down, while Shin selflessly offered himself up to become the new host." Danzo's plan was years in the making, and now all his painstaking labors would finally come to fruition. 'Soon I will be Hokage, and I will turn this village into what it was supposed to be to begin with, a village with 'true' ninja.' "You destroyed any trace that the girl was there?" he questioned.

"Yes Lord Danzo, no one will even suspect that another person had been there."

"Good, once we've dealt with the resealing of the Nine-tails I want you to take care of her, I don't want her ruining my plans. Now go, Torune, and one more thing, 'Peace is the lie of the weak.'"

Fu stood and vanished from sight. 'I must retrieve Naruto Uzumaki for Lord Third. Hopefully he will be able to help the boy with whatever is going on.'

OoO

Kakashi stood at the alley where a man lay dead, four kunai sticking deep into his chest. Another man was found in the shop across the way from the alley laying in shards of glass with a large hole through the center of his chest. "Are we certain Naruto did this? I know I reported a leak in the seal, but he seemed to get it under control. If he DID do this, it had to have been for a good reason."

"He's your student and subordinate. I think you're allowing you feelings to get in the way of evidence. Even if you're right about his reasoning, it's becoming hard to believe that the seal is holding properly. He could become a danger to those around him. At this point he may not even be hum.." Ibiki was cut short as killing intent was directed at him from the man behind him.

"You don't even want to finish that sentence. Naruto may be a lot of things, but he is not a monster, or some mindless beast." Said Kakashi threateningly.

"I apologize, but face the facts, we all felt the Nine-tails chakra, and the medics place these two Suna nins' deaths at approximately the same time. And unfortunately dead men tell no tales, so the sensor's information about Naruto being here at that time, are all we have to go on." Ibiki replied and he sealed the corpse for the Suna ninja standing next to him. He handed the two scrolls to Baki.

"Much appreciated, I will have our men examine the bodies and relay any relevant information directly to your Hokage." said Baki as he vanished from sight.

"Well all we can do is wait to see what Naruto has to say for himself. Since you are forbidden from seeing him at this time, I suggest we return to Hokage tower and wait." Ibiki said to Kakashi, giving the younger Jounin a stern gaze.

"Yeah yeah, I get it." replied Kakashi lazily. 'I hope you're ok Naruto, show these guys that they're wrong about you.'

OoO

Ino looked at Naruto, shocked at what she had just been told. 'He's not lying, I saw it with my own eyes. Naruto has the Nine-tails inside him.' He seemed to be awaiting her response, not looking at her, but out the window at the night sky. 'This kind of explains some things though, I mean I just thought most people found him annoying, like me and Sakura, and that's why they avoided him, or even looking at him. He may not be smart, but he knew something was wrong for people to treat him that way, and so he wanted to become Hokage. I can't even imagine being that alone.' She quietly contemplated. "I'm sorry Naruto."

This time it was Naruto's turn to be surprised. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault, yaknow." he stated. "You're not scared of me or that I might lose control?"

Ino was still curled up with her knees to her chest but she had remained in that position since arriving, not due to some fear of him. She shook her head. "I know it's not my fault, but I could have been nicer to you when we were at the academy. I knew you didn't have any parents and so I thought that's why you acted like an annoying brat sometimes, but I didn't know things were that bad for you. And I don't see a reason to be scared of you, I saw what you looked like and I saw you fight it down. Really I'm just glad you were there, and..." she choked up and bit as tears started trickling down her cheeks.

"I'm glad I was there too, yaknow." Naruto said as he placed a hand on Ino's shoulder gently, so as not to alarm her, but she didn't retract from the contact. She looked up at him to see his goofy smile, but tears were also in his eyes. It brought a small smile to her face. 'She knows, and she doesn't think I'm a monster.' He couldn't help being happy.

'He's still annoying...but that's ok.' she thought as he continued to give her that grin while crying with her. Ino wasn't sure if she was sad or happy in that moment, but she did know one thing, she felt safe.

Naruto's clone jumped into the room startling them both and bit and causing Naruto to remove his hand from Ino's shoulder. "Whoa sorry guys, didn't mean to scare you, yaknow." Naruto's clone said as he placed Ino's pajamas next to her and vanished.

"I'll let you clean up and change, I'll go sleep on the couch." said Naruto as he started to leave the bedroom, but a hand gripping his coat stopped him.

"Will you stay in here...with me, please...?" Ino asked afraid that he would insist on being in a separate room. She wasn't sure why but his presence had comforted her nerves and she could feel her panic returning as he had moved to leave.

"Ok." Naruto said as he sat down on the floor beneath the window. "I'll wait right here."

"You promise?" Ino's voice cracked as she held back from crying. Naruto just looked at her and slowly pulled out a kunai which he drew across his palm, letting blood flow out. He clenched his fist and held it out allowing the blood to drip to the floor.

"I promise I will stay here with you Ino, and I never go back on my word, that's my nindo." He said solemnly. "You're my friend, and I will always be there for you." He finished and smiled at her.

Ino smiled back, fresh tears emerging from her eyes. 'Thanks Naruto' she thought to herself as she nodded and went to the bathroom to clean up. It had only been thirty minutes, but it felt like an eternity. She would never look at her fellow blonde the same way again.

OoO

Baki stood alone in the forest waiting for his contact within the village to arrive. 'I hope Lord Kazekage knows what he's doing dealing with someone as dangerous as Orochimaru' This wasn't the first time the thought crossed his mind, and it wouldn't be the last. There was something unnerving about that man, and he would be damned if he allowed Orochimaru to betray them.

"I feel like someone is thinking ill of my master." said a young silver haired, bespectacled ninja. "Hello Baki, what was so urgent that you called me away in the middle of the night? I risk my identity as a spy, having to meet you unnecessarily."

"These two slipped up and got themselves killed, I was informed that I need to give their corpses to you so that your master can ascertain whether the invasion plans got leaked or not." replied Baki stoically.

"Ah yes, I had gotten wind of that through the grape vine. I suggest you warn your allies to exercise more subtlety from this point forward." The younger ninja said, taking the two scrolls and stashing them away. "I look forward to see what Suna's Jinchuriki is capable of." He then vanished in a puff of smoke.

OoO

**OK that's Chapter 2, I'm glad I got some reviews and that you enjoyed my first chapter. I have a question for those reading though, as I go forth from here would you prefer I write longer chapters and update once a month, or shorter chapters and maybe update twice or three times a month? (depending on my schedule or if inspiration allows) As always reviews and advice welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Damn power outage just as I decide to start writing this chapter. For those that are curious about why no one realized Ino had been at the scene, I updated the previous chapter to take care of that. Looks like I will be doing shorter chapters and more frequent updates, at least for the time being. **

**OoO**

Kakashi had given Ibiki the slip by creating a shadow clone in the bathroom and returned to the scene with Pakkun. "So what can you tell me Pakkun? I feel like there is something we're missing." 'Naruto's impulsive, but something like this, there has to be a reason.'

"Hmm I smell four people, but something's off." Said the small pug, sniffing around the alley, then moving towards the entrance. "I think one of them was a girl, smells like flowers. And I'm guessing the ramen scent is your student. In the alley the girl's scent seems much weaker, but it's there." he said motioning to the center of where the large drying blood pool was. "Then I get her scent on the wall here, and a slight hint of bile, but no physical evidence. Likely no one other than us hound summons, or the Inuzuka clan would even suspect there had been someone else here. So someone was here first and destroyed what evidence there was of the girl, and the thing that's bugging me, I can't smell them. I've eliminated, yours, Ibiki's, the ANBU who discovered the scene, the medic, and the Suna ninja, so either the person was able to mask his scent somehow, or the ANBU had something to do with it."

After hearing Pakkun's analysis he came to the same conclusion as well. "Yes I agree. Unfortunately, I'm not aware who that was and even if I did we don't have any sort of proof. So someone wanted this to look like Naruto senselessly murdered two ninja, twice his age. If that's the case, whoever the girl is, is in danger being the only other person apart from Naruto who knows the truth. Can you find out which way she went? We need to get to her first, and fast."

"No problem, seems she and Naruto left together. This way." Pakkun said jumping to the roof.

'This is the direction Naruto's apartment is in.' Kakashi thought to himself as he and the ninja hound jumped from roof to roof.

OoO

Ino stepped out of the shower and after drying off, redressed in her purple pajamas with flower print. She hadn't realized just how bad she looked until she stood in front of Naruto's mirror. She looked like she had waded waist deep in blood. Somehow she still didn't feel clean, but it was nice to be in clean clothes. She left her ruined outfit in the corner and decided she would throw them away or ask Naruto to do it. She stepped back into the room to see Naruto still there sitting on a blanket under the window.

He had been trying, since Ino went into the shower, to get the Nine-tails to talk but with no success. He'd asked about why it had gotten so upset at the alley, not that he hadn't been, but it seemed strange that a demon fox would care. After a while when he hadn't gotten an answer, he resorted to taunting it into talking, but that also hadn't seemed to rouse it. Once he had finished replacing the dirty sheets with clean ones, he gave up trying to communicate with the stubborn fox. "You can have the bed. Don't worry I changed the sheets." Naruto said. Ino nodded and resumed her place and position on the bed.

"Thanks again Naruto." Ino didn't feel much like sleeping though, she could still picture the men from the alley and feel their touch on her skin. "Can I ask you for a favor?" She was trying to hold back from crying again.

"Yeah, of course." Naruto could hear the strain in her voice even though he couldn't make out her expression in the dark.

"Please don't tell anyone what happened." Ino wasn't sure if she could deal with people pitying her. The memories of the incident were crushing by themselves, she didn't want to see the look of pity in the eyes of those around her on top of it.

"If you're sure." He waited as Ino nodded in consent. "Ok, I promise I won't tell anyone." He didn't know yet what he'd tell someone if they asked, but he'd figure something out, for Ino's sake.

Ino fell to her side, facing away from the window, keeping her knees to her chest and began to sob quietly. She made a vow to herself as tears trickled down her face into the sheets. 'I swear I'll become strong.' For once she did not think of Sasuke, but of herself and all her friends, including her new friend, the dead last from her class.

Naruto sat patiently as Ino's sobs stilled after a few minutes. He was about to ask if she'd like a glass of water, when a knock at the side of his window caused them both to jump. Naruto immediately stood up facing the window, while Ino sat back up maintaining her curled position. Just outside the window stood a man in black ANBU ops gear complete with a bird mask.

"Sorry to startle you. You're Naruto Uzumaki I presume?" the man asked staying outside the room.

Ino could feel her heart racing when the man spoke, even though he didn't seem aggressive. She started taking deep quiet breaths in an attempt to calm down.

"Yeah that's me, yaknow." Naruto replied, not dropping his guard. "What do you want?" he asked, giving the man a close look to make sure he wasn't reaching for any weapons.

"I'm here on orders from Lord Third. I have to take you in." Foo stated calmly. He didn't want to anger the boy in case he was volatile, though at the moment he seemed in control. He also noticed that a girl was in his room, he recognized her as Ino Yamanaka, daughter of Inoichi, his cousin. Torune decided not to comment on it, as the situation seemed innocent enough, with Naruto sitting on the floor with a makeshift bed.

"What does old man Hokage want with me?" Naruto asked still keeping a close eye on the ANBU.

"He just wants to talk with you about what happened with the Suna ninja tonight. It's important that you come with me now, or I will have to take you in by force." There was a stern edge to his voice, but he still made no move towards them.

"Aww damn it...fine" He looked back at Ino, whose expression was mortified in the moonlight.

Ino had wanted to jump up and grab Naruto's arm to keep him from going but she didn't want to get any closer to the man outside the window, she still hadn't calmed down. "Please don't...you promised." Ino pleaded, holding back the tears that threatened to fall once more.

Naruto shut his eyes in thought for a moment, then had an idea. "Ah, here. **Shadow Clone Jutsu.**" Another Naruto appeared in the room and took a seat in the spot the original Naruto had been sitting. "Is this ok, Ino? I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, and you should stay here and get some sleep."

Ino calmed down a bit, avoiding hysterics, and nodded. As long as she didn't have to be alone, it didn't matter if it was just a clone. Naruto smiled at her as he stepped outside the window.

"Don't worry I'll see what the geezer wants and come right back." He then vanished from her sight following the ANBU.

Ino looked at clone Naruto once the original was gone. He gave her a small smile and said, "Don't worry I'll stay here till the real me gets back."

"Thanks." Ino replied finally starting to feel her heart rate returning to normal. "Is it strange to think of yourself as not real?" She asked, a little curious what would happen if she hit him with her Mind Transfer Jutsu.

"Hmm I don't know, never really thought about it, yaknow. I guess you could say I don't really feel like I'm not the real Naruto, but I know I'm not." He said while scratching his head in contemplation. "Ugh just thinking about it is giving me a headache." He laughed and smiled sheepishly.

Ino giggled a little. He certainly seemed like the genuine article with that idiotic grin on his face.

OoO

Pakkun stopped once he got close to their destination. "Kakashi, we've got a problem, the ANBU from the alley was already here. Smells like Naruto went with him, in the direction of the tower, but I think the girl is still here." said the dog, while sniffing at the air. "I'd say we missed them by about five to ten minutes."

"Damn it. Well first things first I need to get the girl somewhere safe and then I'll search for Naruto. Something is happening and I don't like it." replied Kakashi. For the first time in a while he was getting mad, someone was trying to cause trouble for his student and his village, and he was going to put a stop to it.

"Alright, well you're on your own from here Kakashi, my time is up. Later." said Pakkun, raising a paw in farewell and vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi stayed hidden while doing a quick sweep of the area to make sure there was no one else around and, then slowly made his way towards Naruto's apartment. He saw that the window was open so he approached there and listened, hearing nothing, he peeked inside. He could see Naruto sitting just beneath the opening on a blanket, 'Must be a clone.' and the Yamanaka girl from Asuma's team sitting on the bed in a somewhat defensive position. He now could imagine what had happened in the alley, and there certainly was no reason to fault Naruto for his actions.

Kakashi cleared his throat quietly to get their attention. The noise still surprised Ino, but the Naruto clone recognized the sound and got up and faced his teacher. "Hey Kakashi sensei. What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, maybe you should tell me. I saw what happened in the alley, care to tell me about that?" asked Kakashi with a questioning look.

"Ah that." Naruto's clone scratched his head, he didn't need to look at Ino to know she didn't want him to say. "It doesn't matter, I did what I had to do, and I don't regret it." He said with a determined look.

Kakashi took his eye off his student for a second to glance at Ino, she had relaxed a bit in her position at hearing that and he could hear a very quiet sigh. "Ok well I guess I will leave it at that for now." He replied returning his gaze to Naruto. "However I need to get you guys out of here, or I suppose I should say, I need to get you out of here Ino, since you're just a clone of Naruto."

"What, why?" Said Ino. She had been startled by Kakashi's appearance but she had been a little calmer than she had been when the ANBU showed up. Her heartbeat had increased a little though since his arrival.

"I'll be brief, I think Naruto is being framed for murder. I'm not sure why just yet, but you are the only other person who knows what happened, and I think that whoever is doing this, is going to come after you next to keep you from telling people the truth. Speaking of, do you know where Naruto went?"

Ino shook her head. "The ANBU just said that the Hokage needed to talk to him, and they left." she replied.

"Yeah, that's right, yaknow. They left a couple minutes before you showed up. He was wearing a bird mask."

'Hmm that's not a lot to go on, but it's something.' "Come with me you two." it wasn't necessary to bring the Naruto clone, but he figured that he was here to keep Ino calm or maybe just for company.

Ino hesitated for a moment till Naruto's clone turned towards, "It's ok Ino, we can trust Kakashi." She then got of the bed and left out the window after Naruto's clone.

OoO

Foo brought Naruto to the Hokage tower, but instead of taking him upstairs, he lead Naruto into the basement where the holding cells were placed. "Where are we going, I thought the old man wanted to talk to me." Naruto stated walking behind Fu, with his hands behind his head.

"Sorry Naruto, but you'll have to wait for Lord Hokage down here. Just a safety precaution, seeing as you did kill two ninja from another land." replied Fu, opening a cell door for him.

"Tch." 'They deserved it...they deserved worse.' Naruto thought to himself deciding it better to keep his mouth shut for now. He stepped inside the cell and took a seat on the wall-bed that was the only thing in there.

"Please wait here and I will retrieve the Hokage." said the ANBU and he retreated up the stairs. As Foo reached the first floor a voice spoke from behind him.

"'War is the truth of shinobi.'"

Foo stood still for a moment as the seal on his memories was released, then turned and knelt before his true leader. "Naruto is waiting in cell 1. I located the girl, she was at Naruto's apartment."

"Very good Foo, I appreciate your diligence. Before you take care of the girl, tell Hiruzen that Naruto is here twenty minutes from now. By then it will be too late for him to react even if he feels the Nine-tails chakra. I've already taken care of the night guard and sealed his body for the time being, to make it look like he was killed by the boy. In the confusion go take care of the girl. I know making it look like suicide should be no problem with your talents in the Yamanaka clan ninjutsu." Said the shrewd man. His plan was going perfectly. And with the entrance to ROOT on the same level as the holding cells, it would be no stretch of the imagination that he could be the first to arrive on the scene of a Biju rampaging. "I will be leaving your memory unsealed until you've finished your mission."

"Yes Lord Danzo." Then Foo vanished.

'Soon this village will be filled with true shinobi. I will make Konoha strong.' Danzo thought to himself as retreated back down the stairs.

OoO

Naruto got impatient with sitting after thirty seconds and was practicing his chakra control by walking on the walls and ceiling of his cell. Five minutes after the ANBU left, Naruto could hear foot steps approaching. "Wow that was fast old man." he said as he jump down from the ceiling. He looked out of his cell, but the man walking towards him was NOT the Hokage. It was a man about the same age, short black hair, bandages around his head, a cross shaped scar on his chin, and an outfit that concealed the right side of his body.

"So you're the sorry excuse of a Jinchuriki that the Nine-tails has the misfortune of inhabiting." Said Danzo looking down at the unimpressive boy. He was an example of everything he thought Konoha needed to be rid of.

Naruto could feel his anger rising, he wasn't sure what Jinchuriki meant, but the rest of what he said and the way he said it, was clearly an insult. "Who the hell are you gramps?"

"It's of no consequence to you. It seems like the only thing you inherited from your father was his looks." He said while unwrapping the bandages around his head and right eye.

"You knew my father?" asked Naruto, anger replaced by surprise. Naruto had asked the old man who his parent's were when he was younger, but he had just said that he would tell Naruto when he was older.

"Hnn I make it my personal business to know all the shinobi of this village, you included. Since I will be taking the Nine-tails from you, I see no reason not to enlighten you of your paternity before you die. You are the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage." Danzo stated, before ensnaring the young Genin in a genjutsu with the Sharingan he took from Shisui Uchiha.

Shin appeared next to Danzo as he finished placing Naruto into a genjutsu. "Be prepared Shin, this shouldn't take long."

"Yes Danzo." Shin replied .

OoO

Naruto was frozen in place, but not because of what he had just heard. 'I can't believe it! The Fourth Hokage is my dad?!' The old man who had come to his cell said that he was going to die, but he couldn't process that yet. He looked around from where he was, he seemed to be in some kind of sewer and there was a large barred gate in front of him with a large strip of paper with the kanji for seal on it. Naruto could sense there was something beyond the gate, but he couldn't see what it was.

Suddenly a pair of large red eyes opened from the other side of the gate. **"Stupid boy, you're in danger, you need to focus." **Said the Nine-tails.

"You're the Nine-tails?" asked Naruto looking up at the large glowing red eyes looking down at him.

"**That should be obvious, brat." **A large claw hit the gate then disappeared in the darkness behind the gate again. **"Focus!"**

"What am I supposed to do? I can't move!" replied Naruto, as he struggled to move any part of his body.

"Don't bother, it's useless to fight." Said Danzo appearing in between Naruto and the sealed gate. "You beast, are coming with me." he said staring calmly into the demonic eyes with his Sharingan.

" **Damn those eyes. I am going to...kill you...remember that." **The Nine-tails speech slowed and eyes changed to reflect those of the Sharingan.

"The attitude of a proper weapon, and I'm going to put it to good use." Danzo said as he seemed to float up towards the seal on the gate.

"NO Stop it!" Naruto cried as he tried to force his body to respond.

"It's too late, the Nine-tails is mine now." Said the old man as he began removing the seal.

Just as the seal was undone, a fist collided with Danzo's face in a flash of white and yellow.

"Damn you...Minato." said Danzo as he flew towards the wall and seemed to fade out of existence.

Naruto was able to move again but was quickly surrounded by swirling red chakra that seemed to start overtaking his body. He could feel it start invading his mind as he was starting to lose himself in the power and rage.

"Here let me take care of that." Said the tall blonde man standing in front of him. He quickly went through several hand signs and redid the seal, closing the gate and stemming the flow of chakra from the Nine-tails.

Naruto collapsed to his knees and took a deep breath. He wasn't even able to think when that chakra enveloped him. He looked up speechless at the figure before him, 'I can't believe it, it's the Fourth Hokage...my dad.'

Minato watched as his son slowly stood up, looking at him in awe. He was pretty sure that Naruto hadn't even noticed that their surroundings had changed. "Hi Naruto. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to appear here so soon. But it looks like Danzo has set his eyes on the Nine-tails. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here." he said waiting for Naruto to say something.

"...D...dad?" Naruto asked as he could feel tears threatening to fall.

Minato smiled warmly at his son. "Yeah, that's right, you're my son. I wish I had time to talk more with you, but I need to get you out of Danzo's reach, so I need to conserve most of the chakra I saved inside the seal." Naruto was about to speak but Minato held up a hand to stop him. "Please just listen for now it's very important, I've seen everything you have so, first off you need to get out of the village, if Danzo is after the Nine-tails, he's not going to give up after having gotten this far, and next time I won't be here to redo the seal. Kakashi will help you. Second you need to find a tall, white haired ninja, by the name of Jiraiya, but hopefully he will find you first. Last there is a man who wears a mask with one eye hole, you need to be wary of him, he is going to attempt to cause great turmoil in the ninja world." Minato finished. "Do you think you can remember that?"

Naruto wasn't sure if he could, but he was definitely going to try, so he nodded. "Ok good, thanks for being patient Naruto, now if you're brief I can answer a couple questions."

'I'm not even sure what to ask.' So he asked the one thing that had bothered him all his life. "Why did you leave me all alone?" his question started the tears that had been held back.

Minato closed the distance to Naruto and wrapped his arms around him. "I never wanted to leave you, and neither did your mom. There will come a time when you meet her like this, and she will tell you what happened and why things are this way." He felt guilty about leaving this to Kushina, but he was quickly running out of chakra. "One more question, and then I need to use my remaining chakra to get you to Kakashi's place, hopefully he will be there."

Naruto looked up at his father and took his time to remember everything he could. He had seen this face hundreds of times, but in a rocky facade. "Why did you put the Nine-tails in me?"

Minato released his son and placed his hand on his head while kneeling down to look him in the eye.

"Because I believe in you. I believe that you can control this power, and that you will be an even greater ninja than me." He hugged Naruto once last time, who hugged him back. Minato stood back up and focused the remainder of his chakra to perform his famed technique, **Flying Raijin.**

OoO

Kakashi had gotten Ino and Naruto's clone to his apartment, which was a good deal larger than Naruto's place, and had a spare bedroom. 'I wish I have enough chakra to spare another clone to stay with them' Kakashi thought as he prepared to head out. 'It's a wonder that Naruto can create as many as he does and still have the stamina to keep going' In truth he could leave a clone, but it would be no match for an ANBU. "You two can use the spare room." He said as he showed them where it was.

Just as he was about to leave, Naruto's clone cried out. He rushed back to the spare room to see the clone writhing on the floor, red chakra seeping out of him.

"Kakashi, what's wrong with Naruto!?"

"I'm not sure but I think I need to find Naruto fast." He was about to leave, but the clone grabbed his leg.

"Don't go...he's coming here." he got out before he cried out once more then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ino tensed up when Naruto's clone vanished. It wasn't that she thought Kakashi would do anything to her, but Naruto had been doing wonders to calm her nerves. With the knowledge that her life was in danger she wasn't sure what she should do, so she would have to trust Naruto's sensei. 'I hope he's ok.'

'How in the world will he get here?' Kakashi thought to himself. 'Naruto's unpredictable but I doubt he could escape ANB black ops' He sighed heavily and looked at Ino. "I guess we'll have to wait. Can I get you something to drink, I'm sure this has been a long night for you."

Ino nodded. "Yes please."

Kakashi went and made Ino some warm tea. When he returned to the room, there was a crash that came from his bedroom. He set the tea down for Ino and ran to his bedroom to see Naruto sprawled out on the floor underneath the special kunai that Minato sensei had given him upon his promotion to Jounin. 'How the hell did he do that!?' He thought carefully approaching the blonde boy. "Naruto?"

"Ow ow ow that hurt. Damn it dad, couldn't you have dropped me on my feet, yaknow." said Naruto as he sat up rubbing the back of his head. By now Ino was waiting in the doorway, watching, glad he was ok.

"Your dad? What do you know about your dad, Naruto?" asked Kakashi 'Sarutobi was adamant about not letting that get around until he was old enough to protect himself from any enemies Minato made.'

Naruto beamed up at Kakashi and Ino. "I met him. My dad is the Fourth Hokage." Both Kakashi's and Ino's eyes went wide.

"How did you meet him!?" asked Kakashi stunned. 'That does explain how and why he got here though. You were truly amazing, sensei.'

"Um I'm not sure. He said he did something with my seal so that he could meet me later, but all his chakra got used up, so I won't be able to see him again, but he did say I would get to meet my mom!" Naruto's head gave a dull throb as he started to recall all of his clone's memories. "Ugh, Kakashi sensei, why do I know how to get from my place to yours? I've never been...here...have I?"

"That is a side effect of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, your clones pass their memories on to you when they dispel or get destroyed. Look stay focused, what happened to you, what did your father have to say."

"Oh yeah right." Naruto got serious, he almost forgot he was in danger as long as he stayed in the village. "Some geezer came to the cell I was in, he said he was going to take the Nine-tails out of me. I think my dad called him 'Danzo.' But my dad stopped him and fixed the seal. He said I'm going to have to leave the village, and that you'd help me. Also that I need to find this Jiraiya guy, and watch out for a guy with a mask that had one eye-hole.

"I can't believe your dad is the Fourth Hokage." said Ino, she could sort of see a resemblance in the hair be definitely not the face. 'How did someone so talented have a son like Naruto.' Though she had to admit she wasn't giving him enough credit, Naruto had made strides past the way he was from their time at the academy. She wasn't sure she could consider her progress as impressive as his was.

"I know right!" Naruto replied smiling brightly.

Kakashi had been processing the information he received from Naruto and began thinking of a plan. "Ok you two, you're both going to have to leave the village, I know it's going to be tough but you have to believe that both you're lives are in jeopardy if you remain, so no arguing." They both nodded in response.

Ino didn't want to leave be she understood the necessity, and hopefully they would return soon. "When will be able to come back, and will you tell my parents?"

"Yes I'll take care of that, but we don't have time for it now, I'm sure Danzo is making plans to find you right now, so we have to act fast." Kakashi replied. In the next fifteen minutes they had two packs ready, and Kakashi was leading them outside Konoha's wall as quickly as possible. Once they were on the outside of the wall Kakashi turned towards Naruto and Ino. He held out a pouch, "Here's some money, it should last for a couple weeks, and here's two soldier pills, take them now, and don't stop till you reach the town on the border to the west. They both did as he said. "I'm not sure how long this will take to deal with, but I swear I'll let you know when it's safe to come back. One last thing, Naruto I'd like you to make six clones and transform three into Ino, you'll have them go in all different directions. That should throw off anyone with the Byakugan traking you." Naruto did as he said, and Kakashi threw down some sort of smoke bomb that cleared quickly, but caused Naruto, Ino, and the clones to cough. There was a strange smell to the smoke. "And now all your scents match so no one will be able to track you by scent."

It hurt Naruto and Ino to have to leave, but they both steeled themselves for what they had to do. Kakashi knelt in front of them and gave them a good hard look. "You both can do this, it's what you were trained for. Look out for each other, and try to stick together. You remember what I taught you about teamwork Naruto, and don't go running off on your own." Naruto held back his scoff, but still looked a little miffed by Kakashi's statement. "Consider that an order. And Ino I'm sorry you got dragged into this mess, I'll be sure to let your parent's know that you're alright, but I can't tell them where I sent you, and you shouldn't try to contact them." Ino nodded in response. This had been the longest and hardest night of her life. If she hadn't taken the soldier pill should would love to just sleep right about now. "Naruto, for what it's worth I'm happy that you got to meet your father, he was a great ninja, and I know you'll make him proud. And a tip while you're out there, use your clones to train, gather info, and watch your back. You have an invaluable resource at your disposal."

Naruto nodded. "Ok Kakashi sensei." Kakashi bade them farewell, and returned into Konoha to meet with Sarutobi and confront the traitorous Danzo.

Naruto and Ino took of towards the western border each with tear streaming behind them for the home, friends, and family they left behind. The clones separated themselves and took off as well.

OoO

**There you go, chapter 3, I really just wanted to get this day over with, a lot happened. In future chapter's I will try to make them consist of only a day no more or less hopefully. I appreciate the readers who have sent me reviews. I hope I can continue to write a story that you enjoy. Thanks to Trulyanimelover for pointing out that Fu was the Yamanaka subordinate of Danzo. (My bad, I've updated the chapters to correct this, please feel free to point of any other such mistakes.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Authour's Note: Thanks again for all the reviews. I'm glad you enjoy it so far. To Girrr I will work on including more detail, and appreciate the feedback, keep in mind this is the first thing that I've written in years so my writing skills are a bit rusty. If you, or anyone has any ideas that my story could benefit from please do share. If you haven't figured it out by now, I've removed the Third Hokage's viewing crystal 1. because that is bogus and 2. it would have obviously ruined the plot. I lied, I still have some more yet to get out of this day, but I SWEAR this is the last of it, by the end of this chapter I will be into the next day and then some maybe.**

OoO

Danzo cursed himself for his impatience at extracting the biju from it's host. If he had allowed himself some time to examine the seal he would have found Minato's charka signature incorporated into it. However he hadn't thought that the man had been prudent enough to place such a precaution in the event of the seal breaking. On top of that he managed to use his famed justu to get the boy out of his grasp, at least for the moment. 'No matter, Foo can recapture him and we can continue again. It's unlikely that Minato can intervene like that again, and even if he can I will be prepared for it.' Thankfully it had only been five minutes since he had began, so there was still time, He sent Shin to intercept Foo on his way to Hiruzen. Not moments later said ANBU appeared kneeling before him in the darkened detention block.

"Sir, I surmise there was a complication?" asked the blonde man.

"Yes, Minato was more cautious than I gave him credit for. He managed to halt me and send the boy away. I need to you to bring him in again while we can keep Hiruzen from becoming suspicious. This time I will leave your memory unsealed, find the boy and kill the girl. Go." said Danzo. He didn't show it on his face but he was livid. The Nine-tails had been within his grasp, only to be torn away from him. It would not happen a second time.

Shin returned to his side holding an unconscious guard by the back of his flak jacket. It was the guard sent to relieve the one they had already killed. "Orders sir?"

"Kill and seal him like the other, no reason the Jinchuriki has to stop at one body." He replied, planning to use it as more evidence against Naruto Uzumaki.

OoO

Foo returned Naruto's apartment in hopes that he had been sent there as well. It hadn't been that long and under normal circumstances he couldn't have gotten far, but if what Danzo had told him was true, then Naruto could be well out of reach. However the girl was another story, thus his return to the apartment. Perhaps she would have some insight, and even if she didn't, he would silence her.

He reached the roof outside the window of Naruto's apartment and crept up to it while pulling out a kunai just in case. He approached carefully and listened at the open window, and upon hearing silence, he ventured a glance into the room. Not only was Naruto not there, Ino wasn't either. Again practicing caution he slipped into the room and searched the entire apartment to make sure that it was truly empty. There were several empty ramen cups, and nothing seemed to have been disturbed or packed in a hurry. The only thing he found indicating the girl had been there were the bloody sheets and her clothes. He gathered those items and sealed them into a scroll, before exiting the apartment into the cool night air.

Unfortunately this suggested that Naruto could be in the wind by now, but there was still another place to check for the girl. He began jumping from roof to roof once more heading in the direction of his cousin's home.

OoO

After leaving Naruto and Ino to flee the village, Kakashi headed back over the wall, avoiding the patrols as expertly as he had leading the two Genin out. Once he was sure he wouldn't draw attention to himself he rushed to the Hokage's Tower. The moon still shone brightly in the night sky giving him more than enough light to go full speed without injuring himself while jumping roof to roof.

While he still didn't have proof that Danzo and a member of Saurtobi's ANBU were connected, and had altered evidence at a crime scene or attempted to remove the Nine-tails from Naruto, he hoped that he would be given the benefit of the doubt. At best he could summon Pakkun to testify to the evidence tampering as well as find the culprit if it WAS the ANBU, but that didn't tie Danzo to anything, and wasn't much in the way of proof.

Kakashi made it to Hokage tower and entered Sarutobi's office through one of the many windows. Said man was looking out over Konoha with a lit pipe in his mouth, garbed in his Hokage robe sans the hat. Despite how peaceful the village looked, it seemed to him that chaos was bubbling under the surface. He wasn't sure, but he felt there was a great change coming, like a calm before the storm. This incident with the Nine-tails chakra had seemed benign until one of his ANBU reported corpses at the scene, and convinced him to at least bring in Naruto to have the seal examined. Kakashi had come to him before and asked to be the one to talk to him, but he decided it wouldn't do either of them any good to see the other if Naruto had truly lost control, so he had ordered Kakashi to wait on the sidelines. Obviously he had gone around these orders. "What is it Kakashi?" asked the older man, not turning to look at the Jounin.

"Sir, I came to report what's happened with Naruto." replied Kakshi

"I suppose I will take the time to hear you out, it's been nearly an hour since my ANBU left to secure Naruto, and hasn't returned. So I take it some treachery is afoot?" Hiruzen took a long drag on his pipe and turned around to face Kakashi.

OoO

Danzo was preparing Shin and the seal formula he would use to reseal the Nine-tails into the terminal boy. Shin was near the same age as Naruto and had been with ROOT since he was five. Danzo had done an excellent job turning him into an emotionless weapon that he believed all shinobi were supposed to be. He could see that there were still some attachments that the boy had, one being a boy he coded as 'Sai,' but soon even that would be dissolved. They had been like brothers at the orphanage he extracted them from, but in his eyes such relationships were unnecessary and kept shinobi from reaching their full potential.

Twenty minutes had passed since Foo's departure and he once again reappeared in the detention block kneeling before him. "Reporting sir. I found neither Naruto nor the girl. I went to any place I thought they may take refuge, it seems that Kakashi Hatake helped them escape the village. His apartment was turned over for supplies, and I believe he is on his way to speak to Hiruzen."

'NO, my plans! Damn you Minato!' This time anger was evident on Danzo's face, though it didn't cause Foo or Shin any distress. If he'd had a sensor within ROOT he could have salvaged the situation sooner but Foo had been his best option. 'No...there is still one way I can keep this under wraps.' he thought to himself pulling the bandages over his right eye, off. His face relaxed from anger and while his face was blank once more, in his head he was smiling. While he didn't have a sensor among ROOT he did have skilled trackers, of three prodigious clans; Hyuuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame. So long as Kakashi and Hiruzen were the only ones who knew, then Shisui's 'Kotoamatsukami' would be more than enough to rectify the situation. He had been hoping to reserve it's use for when he was inducted as Hokage on the entirety of Konoha's shinobi to enure complete loyalty, but this was a far more pressing matter, besides it's power would be restored eventually. "Here are your new orders, plant two childrens' corpses we have sealed in Naruto's apartment, burn it to the ground, and make it look like retaliation by Suna. Then alert Torune and the others they are to track Naruto to wherever he fled to. Return to me when this is done so I can reseal your memories."

"As you wish." said Foo as he vanished to complete his master's bidding.

Danzo stared at where Foo had just been planning his next moves carefully. "Wait at headquarters Shin, I shall return shortly." Danzo ordered before he vanished as well, heading to the Hokage's office.

OoO

Sarutobi stood behind his desk in a stunned silence. If Kakashi's deductions were to be believed it was no wonder why Naruto's rage shown through, he himself would have shown less mercy. The problem lay in the fact that someone had destroyed evidence at the scene and the number one suspect was one of his own ANBU. To make things worse, even if it wasn't his ANBU, whoever destroyed the evidence was working with Danzo who had attempted to remove the Nine-tails from Naruto. By some miracle Minato had managed to save his son from beyond the grave and Kakashi had helped the two escape. "I suppose I don't have to ask if you're certain of what you're telling me, but these are serious accusations with little to no proof."

"I know Lord Third, but it's the truth, and I ask that you trust me and act swiftly. Danzo is a traitor."

"Easy Kakashi, I do trust you, but we can't just enforce justice on those we may 'think' are guilty without proof of their guilt. I'm sure Inoichi and Ibiki will get the truth out of him, but Inoichi won't be back till morning, I will send for Danzo then." Said the old man calmly. 'We can't let the ninja world return to the madness it used to be. Killing each other because we can't learn to trust one another would just be a step backwards.' Both men faced the door, preparing to fight, when they felt another presence in the room.

"That's wont' be necessary Hiruzen, my old friend." Both Kakashi and Sarutobi prepared to attack, but it was too late. Danzo activated Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan and they both fell victim to **Kotoamatsukami**. **"Stop." **And both did as he said, thinking nothing of the action, they simply felt that nothing would come of acting rashly so they waited, still tense and poised to attack. **"Kakashi Hatake you will forget having investigated the scene of the crime and helping Naruto and you both will forget everything you discussed here within the past hour." **Both men hadn't so much as moved, but they dropped their hostile stances. **"In the morning you will announce the deaths of Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka due to the tragic fire at the boy's apartment, and begin an investigation into the cause." **Again both men had a noticeable reaction as their faces saddened. Danzo had thought to ask about the location of the Jinchuriki, but it would serve no point as his trackers would take care of that, and to the rest of Konoha, he would be dead. **"Neither of you will remember that I was here." **And with that Danzo turned and left the room, smiling to himself.

Kakashi turned towards Sarutobi, tears running down his visible eye. Lord Third looked equally as down trodden. The loss of two children who had dreams and many years ahead of them, weighed heavy on their hearts. "This shouldn't have happened." Kakashi whispered. 'Rin...Obito...I can't seem to protect anyone.' He thought morosely to himself.

Sarutobi turned and looked out over the village to see the fire burning in the night. He could make out some ninja already reacting and taking care of the flames. "I will announce their deaths in the morning." he replied as tears streamed down his face. Naruto had been a prankster and many thought he was a brat, but the boy had guts and a spark that would have blazed into a fine Will of Fire. Ino had been thoughtful, kind, and would have grown into a fine, beautiful kunoichi. Her fued with Sakura wouldn't have lasted forever. "I will have my ANBU investigate the cause. You're dismissed."

Kakashi walked out of the office slowly making his way out of the Hokage's Tower. Some ninja were hurrying about him in the night but he paid them no mind. His feet were moving, but he wasn't sure where they were taking him till he rounded a corner and saw the ramen stand that was Naruto's favorite place to eat. It was closed but he could still imagine Naruto still on one of the stools behind the flaps talking animatedly to Iruka about one mission or another that was beneath him. His feet began moving again and eventually he could see the dim light that was coming from the dying flames, where Naruto's apartment had once stood. He watched as ninja worked together to put out the embers using water style justsus, there was nothing left of the building. Again without thinking he continued on his mindless trek until he was standing before the Hero's Monument. His eyes passed over a handful of names. 'Obito Uchiha,''Rin Nohara,''Minato Namikaze,'and 'Kushina Uzumaki.' Why had he trained to get strong if he couldn't protect those around him. He had recommended Naruto for the Chunin exams, it was supposed to be a stepping stone for his dream, and show him how far he'd come. He couldn't help feeling he failed everyone of those names.

Suddenly a bunch of memories returned to him. He had been in the bathroom and created a shadow clone as well as summoning Pakkun so that he could investigate a crime scene. The clone had been with Ibiki in one of the break rooms waiting to be given some information about what was going on with Naruto.

Kakashi's clone sat lazily on the couch reading Make Out Paradise while Ibiki stood in a corner supposedly keeping an eye one him. Ibiki wasn't exactly great company so instead of striking up a conversation, the clone pulled out his book and began reading. So far Ibiki hadn't noticed the switch or if he had he certainly didn't allude to it.

After about thirty minutes Ibiki spoke up. "So don't you think you've given yourself enough time to find what you were looking for."

Instead of looking surprised clone Kakashi just looked up over the top of his book and shrugged. "He can dispel me anytime he likes. And whether he finds something or not, you have plausible deniability. You were doing as ordered, and keeping an eye on 'Kakashi.'"

"Hahaha You're a shrewd one Kakashi, not sure whether I should commend you or kick your ass." replied Ibiki, smiling at his fellow Jounin. "It's obvious you care a lot about your students."

Clone Kakashi eye smiled and nodded. "They certainly make my life interesting." They waited again in silence for about another thirty to forty-five minutes when a Chunin brust into the room and alerted them about the fire, and having found the bodies of two children. Both Kakashi and Ibiki ran out of the room and outside to see the inferno in the distance. 'Damn it, that's Naruto's place.' thought the clone taking off in that direction. He started helping fellow shinobi put out the blaze, once he was certain they could handle the rest on their own he headed back towards Hokage Tower. 'Something is wrong he should have dispelled me by now, and I'm running low on chakra.' He entered the tower just in time to see one of Lord Third's ANBU head downstairs into the detention block. 'That's strange.' As far as he knew no one was being detained at the moment, and the only person who should be going down there was the patrol guard or those related to ROOT. He quietly followed the ANBU downstairs and stopped when he got to the doorway. He carefully glanced in and saw the ANBU kneeling and speaking with Danzo, the head of ROOT. Clone Kakashi lifted his headband and activated his Sharingan with the remaining chakra he had left. He was too far away to hear what they were saying, but this way he could at least read Danzo's lips.

'Good job Foo. Don't worry about the Jinchuriki, Torune and the others can handle two Genin. I've taken care of Kakashi and Hiruzen. Now we have plenty of time to retrieve the Nine-tails. I will find you when I need you again. Peace is the lie of the weak.' Kakashi read Danzo's lips. With that the ANBU started coming towards clone Kakashi, who decided this was as good a time as any to dispel, he was running on empty anyway.

Kakashi could feel a wellspring of hope spring forth from his despair. 'Naruto and Ino are alive.' His clone had provided him with valuable information, and he would not allow it to go to waste. Obviously Danzo had done something to alter his memory, but he couldn't remember even seeing the man tonight much less allowing him to have the chance to put him under some kind of genjutsu. Lord Third must have had the same thing happen, so best to lay low and go along with this turn of events for now. He would eventually be sent out on a mission and then he could do some investigating. He however wasn't looking forward to having to keep this secret from Sakura and Sasuke.

Kakashi returned to his apartment. When he got there most everything was in it's place. He was missing some food items, and extra packs, and some ninja tools, along with some money. But the thing that made him certain that he had helped Naruto escape: the kunai that Minato sensei had given him was now absent from his wall behind his bed. He was planning to save that to give to Naruto once he knew who his father was. 'Wherever you guys are, you be safe out there.' He thought happily, while looking at the picture of his current team. 'I'm going to see that you have a chance to make your dreams come true.'

OoO

Naruto and Ino and been running through the thick forest all night, both given the strength and stamina to keep pushing their bodies by the soldier pills Kakashi had given them. Kakashi's plan had worked out perfectly, Naruto even created several more pairs of clones to send off shortly after they set out. A trio of ninja had taken down a few of the pairs so Naruto knew exactly where they were. Luckily they had chased the clones he had sent north and they were putting more and more distance between them.

"Are they still tracking us?" asked Ino, curious. She was still troubled over having to leave her home, but was definitely glad she did when Naruto told her they had straight up killed the first two clones he had transformed into her while attempting to capture the Naruto clones. After doing that twice they stopped, not wanting to risk killing Naruto if he was transformed into Ino, at least that's what she guessed.

"The last clone pair they got was about an hour ago, and they were pretty far north. I think they are, but we should be in the clear." replied Naruto. 'Thank you Kakashi sensei.' He didn't realize how awesome Shadow Clones could be. He wish he had known this jutsu at the academy, he could have just sent a clone to classes for him while he stayed out and trained!

Ino had the same thought, and again was a little jealous of Naruto. 'Maybe he'd be willing to teach it to me.' She thought to herself, thinking of all they ways she could use an extra 'her.' For instance she would have sent one to get her some clothes from her house. She was running through the forest in pajamas and had ten times over cursed her misfortune. Kakashi had given them enough to get some clothes once they arrived at the border town, but it would still be embarrassing to walk into a clothing store while dressed in her PJ's.

The forest around them was starting to come to life as they started seeing birds and deer moving about the trees, fleeing at their advance. It truly had been a long night for both of them, and while their bodies were able to keep going, their minds needed a break. They started ascending a hill as the light of the sun peeked over the horizon behind them. When they reached the top of the hill the light shown on their backs and before them lay Tanzaku Town. It seemed to be slumbering in the shadow of the tall hill. They were halfway to the border of the Land of Fire.

As they began the decent down the hill towards Tanzaku Town, unspoken between then, they stopped running and slowed to a leisurely walk. The bright green grass on the hill was wet with dew from the cool night's air. Ino wondered what her teammates would think of her absence, and she thought of Sasuke, but she couldn't see him worrying about her. He didn't seem to worry about anyone, but that's part of what made him so cool. 'It would be nice if Sasuke DID worry though.' She glanced over at Naruto who was keeping pace with her. He was definitely not handsome like Sasuke, but he gave off a warm vibe every time she saw him smile, it was something she never felt around Sasuke.

"Is there something on my face?" Naruto asked noticing Ino staring at him. He brought a had to his cheek and felt around for something stuck there.

Ino looked away, a slight blush coloring her cheeks, but Naruto didn't seem to notice in the shade of the hill. "No it's nothing," she said quickly, "just thinking if you'll look like the Fourth Hokage when you're older." Her blush deepened but again he didn't seem to notice. 'Oh god I didn't mean to say that.'

"Hahaha." Naruto laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know, but I hope so, my dad looked really cool, and he said he thinks I'll be a better ninja than him!" He stated beaming his warm smile.

'I wouldn't have agreed with that yesterday.' she thought guiltily. But that smile he was giving her really made her want to see if that was true. "Well then, you better live up to his expectations Naruto." replied Ino, matter-of-factly, as she smiled back at him.

"I already promised I would." Naruto stated as he looked up into the violet/blue sky lit by the rising sun. "And I never go back on my word, yaknow."

They reached the bottom of the hill and entered the edge of town. Before going any further they both used the Transformation Jutsu to change their appearances. Ino changed into a girl her age with straight bobbed brown hair and brown eyes, her clothes into a simple sleeveless purple top that cut off about her navel, and a purple skirt, with white stockings. Naruto changed into a boy his age, with dark hair like sasukes only straight and dark eyes, his clothes into a black sleeveless shirt with his wrists wrapped and dark blue shorts. They both begrudgingly removed their Konoha headbands, and continued into town.

Most shops were still closed but a few cafes were open and starting to serve breakfast, so they stopped at the nearest one and ordered something to eat. The streets were mostly empty but there were a few passersby. One such couple that was causing some disturbance or another, was a tall blonde woman with a large bust in a coat with the kanji for 'gamble' on the back, followed by a younger dark haired woman in black attire, carrying a pig with a red jacket and bead around it's neck. They seemed to be running away from a group of angry men, shouting about running out on a bet.

One of the men stopped by the table where they were eating breakfast. "Did you two kids see two women run by this way?" Ino couldn't help herself from cringing away from the man, but both Ino and Naruto pointed to the alley they had ducked into where a loud curse was heard, then the group of men rushed into the alley.

"That was weird." Naruto said as he finished the last of his food.

"Tell me about it." Said Ino with the same deadpan look that Naruto had.

Once they finished their breakfast, they searched around town for a clothing shop so that they could buy a couple sets of new clothes and dump their old ones. After about thirty minutes of wandering the streets they came across a clothing store that was open. They entered and were greeted by a young woman who showed them to clothes in their size. Ino picked out two outfits much like what she was wearing only decided on red instead of purple. Naruto picked out two orange shirts like the one he was wearing and black shorts.

They left once they finished their purchases, and decided to find a place to take a bath. Thankfully it didn't take too long to find a bathhouse that was open, and conveniently uncrowded. They went to their respective sides, and cleaned off the sweat and grime from their extensive run. Naruto got faint halfway through his bath as most of his clones dispelled themselves. He had seen the trackers once more from the memories of a pair of his clones while they ate, but they were further east now, way off their trail. They left the bathhouse and Ino suggested they ditch their old clothes all together so that their scent wouldn't bring them trouble from the trackers. Naruto regrettably agreed and they found a trash can to dump them in.

It was nearing afternoon when they decided to continue on to the border town, heading west again they left Tanzaku Town. As they neared the edge of town they looked at each other when they heard a woman's cry in the distance. "AAIIIIEEEEE" Deciding to ignore it they left town, dropping their transformations and began running again.

OoO

**There we go FINALLY done with the first day. To Girrr I hope I've improved upon the detail at least a little, I certainly don't feel like I'm rushing considering it took me three and a half chapters just to get past the first day, and it's not like I'm anywhere near finished. I have plenty of ideas, and always looking for more. I kind of got away from the Ino hurt thing but it will return I just didn't want to bring it back up in Tanzaku Town, I figured I'd get a little comedy in there. I kind of liked the visual symbolism of the violet/blue sky myself. Hope everyone enjoyed it and thanks again for reviewing. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: To trulyanimelover06, All good points, though like I said at the end of the last chapter, I kind of moved away from the hurt Ino in the last chapter, but I have reasons for it. The soldier pills allow you to push your body past what you would normally be capable of without rest, however it does not do the same thing for your mind, and Ino didn't have to try hard at that point to not think of what happened to her because her mind was too tired to keep focusing on it, the reason they work this way is to allow the user to focus on and react in the moment (thus her blurting out the comment about Naruto looking like Minato)(Even if my explanation isn't canon, this is the effect they have in my fic). And like I said I will be bringing the hurt back. As for Jiraiya, obviously gotta be a bathhouse scene but not sure yet when I will introduce him. To LordHero yes my source says that Kotoamatsuki has a 10 year recovery rate if inserted into a person not of Uchiha descent, however this time can be dramatically reduced if one is implanted with Hashirama's cells, such as Danzo. There wasn't a given time limit, but I'm certainly not going to allow him to abuse it, I figure I will cut the time down to one-third so that by the time I get into Shippuden territory the Kotoamatsuki will be ready to use again. Thanks again for all the reviews.**

OoO

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his desk looking solemnly at the blonde man standing on the other side. He had called him here as soon as he had gotten word of his return from his latest mission. Sarutobi put out his pipe before addressing Inoichi. "I called you here because I have some grave news for you. My ANBU collected evidence from last night's fire, it seems that it was purposely started to kill Naruto Uzumaki."

Inoichi stood passively wondering what this information had to do with him. He had been away on an intelligence mission for the past week and was eager to spend time with his wife and daughter.

"However for some reason we haven't discovered, your daughter was with Naruto at the time the fire started. Both perished in the flames, and their remains found." Said Sarutobi sadly.

Inoichi stood shocked in silence. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, his daughter who he'd last seen standing behind the counter at their family flower shop, was dead. Tears welled up in the Yamanaka man's eyes. "You're certain?" Hoping beyond hope they had made a mistake.

The elder man just nodded. "I will be calling an assembly of all shinobi who are not on missions to make an official announcement. I've sent someone to inform your wife, so you should go be with her now."

"Yes sir." Inoichi replied turning and leaving the Hokage's office, tears quietly streaming down his face.

Sarutobi stood and looked out over the village, the smoke and ash still hanging in the sky, making the morning sun a reddish color. He'd already sent word that the first round of the Chunin exams would be pushed back a day in light of last night's tragedy. He'd also sent word through the frogs, to Jiraiya, hopefully the message would reach him soon. 'I failed you Minato and Kushina. You're son was full of potential, even if few saw it, I certainly did. I hope you're at least together as a family now.' He thought as he got ready to make his announcement.

OoO

All active Genin, Chunin, and Jounin that were not away on missions had gathered and just been given the news that Konoha had lost two promising Genin. They all stood before the Third Hokage and a memorial table with a picture of Ino and one of Naruto. Many of the Jounin had lived through the third great ninja war and were accustomed to seeing young ninja cut down before reaching their prime, but the loss of ones so young struck the Chunin and Genin, hard. Once such Chunin, stood with his had on the head of one of his students. Iruka looked down allowing the tears to flow freely down his face as Konohamaru stood next to him, unable to contain his sobs.

Sakura and Sasuke were standing near Kakashi, both of whom were shocked at the loss of their teammate, and in the case of Sakura, her best friend. Sakura had had her share of fights with both of them, but she by no means hated them, in fact she had just started enjoying Naruto being part of her team, even if he was slightly annoying. And even though she was her rival for Sasuke, she didn't want to win him over by default, Ino had been her very first friend.

Sasuke stood stoically not allowing emotion to show on his face, but inside a storm was brewing. He by no means liked Naruto, in fact he was often angered by the blonde ever since the academy, but he was the closest thing to a friend he'd ever had. Even before they had been at the academy together, he had seen Naruto around town, always alone, just like he himself had been since his clan was wiped out. He wasn't sure why but it annoyed him anytime he caught Naruto staring, and would glare back, but inside he was a little glad that he wasn't alone in being lonely. Now once again he felt alone, and unconsciously his Sharingan activated, fully awakened.

Kakashi feigned a pained look for the sake of anyone who might be keeping an eye on him. He needed to be careful about giving away that fact that he knew they were still alive. He would have taken a glance around to see if anyone WAS watching him, but thought it wasn't worth the risk.

Not far away from Team 7 were Asuma, Shikamaru, and Chouji, also mourning the loss of their teammate. Asuma shed a few tears for the young kunoichi while allowing the cigarette he had in his mouth to burn out without taking a drag. He was already planing to confront his father about the details he had uncovered.

Shikamaru and Chouji were mentally punishing themselves for not having insisted that they walk Ino home. Shikamaru especially was making his mind work overtime, he had actually been ok with not having to deal with the 'troublesome' task of walking her home, but now he cursed himself. And something else was bothering him, Naruto's place where the fire had been was near the opposite side of town compared to where Ino lived. 'What was she doing at Naruto's? And why haven't they said anything about how the fire started?' Things weren't adding up.

OoO

Later that day after the memorial service, the remainder of Team 7 stood at their usual training grounds, awaiting the arrival of Team 10. Kakashi had said he had something to tell them after the service, so now they waited in silence. Team 10 arrived fifteen minutes later looking just as morose at Team 7.

Now that they were all here Kakashi spoke up, "I had a discussion with Lord Third, and if you still want to, you've been cleared to form a four man team for the duration of the first and second tests of the Chunin exams." looking at the four Genin seriously. "It will only be for the sake of the exams, and at least three of you need to agree to participate at all. I would understand if you would like to wait for the next exams six months from now." He looked at them expectantly waiting for their decisions.

Sasuke nodded and pulled out his application and handed it to Kakashi. He needed to see just how strong he had gotten, and the recent death of his 'friend' would not stop him. Upon seeing Sasuke hand in his application, Sakura pulled hers out and did the same.

Shikamaru and Chouji looked at each other and then to Asuma, who just said, "It's up to you guys. The only thing I'm going to say is that I recommended you for the exams because I believe you're ready. What happens from this point forward is up to you." He finished off his current cigarette and stomped it out.

"This is going to be a drag." Shikamaru said with a sigh before handing his application to Kakashi. Chouji followed suit, deciding he wasn't going to let his best friend go it alone.

"Ok, the first test will be held later today, the location was in the application so I hope you all remember where you're going." said Kakashi as he dismissed them.

OoO

The combination of Team 7 and Team 10 arrived at what should have been room 201, but someone had used genjutsu to alter the appearance of the sign to read 301. While this had fooled a a fair amount of Genin, mostly from other villages and even some from Konoha, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Chouji, moved past the altercation happening outside the wrong room, mostly being ignored. However they were noticed by a certain Genin team who was had been standing here gauging some of their supposed competition.

"Did you see those guys? Those were the teammates of the two Genin who passed away." whispered the brown haired girl to her two own team members.

"It must be very saddening to lose such youthful friends." replied the boy with a bowl-cut and bushy eyebrows.

"If they are gone, then so was their fate. Let's go you two, we've wasted enough time here." stated the cold boy with long dark hair and pale eyes. They nodded in response and followed the team of four.

Rock Lee, the boy with the bowl-cut stared at the back of Sasuke Uchiha's head. He was very eager to see how he stacked up against another ninja with a Dojutsu, but thought better of challenging him. 'He has just lost a teammate, it would be unyouthful of me to challenge him to a fight.'

All Genin who entered room 301 were given a random number that was their assigned seat for the duration of the first test. Inside waited several other Genin from many different villages. The last Konoha rookie team composed of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, who had already arrived were joined by the combo team. Sakura could see Hinata's eyes were red and puffy, but decided not to say anything. In fact none of the rookies really knew what to say to each other, so they waited in silence with the rest of the Genin for the first test to begin.

Across the room the Genin from Otogakure kept a close eye on Sasuke Uchiha. It was their mission, given to them by Orochimaru, to kill the Sharingan user. "Do we do it now?" asked Zaku, while clenching his fists, itching for a fight.

"No, we need to wait. We can't risk having a proctor interefere, so be patient." replied Dosu, the man who looked like a mummy.

Another Genin was also keeping a close eye on the Uchiha boy. Kabuto watched him intently, he wasn't sure why, but he could definitely feel a sense of danger around the younger boy. This caused him to smirk. 'Perhaps losing a member of his team has pushed him to the edge. I'm eager to see how far you're willing to push yourself.' Thought the silver haired boy, a gleam shining off his glasses.

It wasn't long before the proctor for the first test, Ibiki Morino entered the room and took the Genin to the room where the test was to be held.

OoO

The sun was setting as Naruto and Ino reached the town on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. They had finally left the large forests of the Land of Fire behind and now before them stretched miles of rolling hills and fields. Natsui, a town of commerce, lay nestled in the valley of the surrounding hills. Even from a distance one could see travelers coming and going from the town, a clear hot spot for merchants, and a rest stop for those passing from one nation into the next.

The solider pills that they had taken were finally starting to wear off, and both young ninja were beginning to tire. By the time they reached the entrance to the town, night had fallen, but the town was still bustling. They hadn't done much in the way of talking on the way here, mostly just allowing their bodies to move them forward towards their destination, on top of their minds being too tired to bother with conversation.

They entered town and found an inn to stay at so that they could finally get some much needed sleep. Naruto spoke to the man behind the counter, "Hello, we'd like to get a room."

The gray haired, balding man looked down at the two children skeptically. "Aren't you two a little young to be off on your own?"

"Oh right." Ino said pretending to facepalm before she transformed into and adult woman version of herself only with light brown hair and eyes. Naruto saw what she was doing and did the same, transforming into an adult version of himself, with dark spiky hair and dark eyes.

"Oh my apologies, you're shinobi. Well then, would you like one bed or two?" asked the man, all suspicion gone.

"Two." Ino said. She didn't mind Naruto's presence, but sharing a bed was another thing all together.

Naruto put the money on the counter, took the key, and followed the mans' directions to their room. It was a decent sized room, with two single beds. Both young ninja undid their transformations, and flopped down on their respective beds. Ino fell asleep almost instantly, letting her mind and body get much needed rest.

Naruto watched as Ino passed out not long after laying down. He remembered when she used to give him a hard time when he messed around at the academy, but now she was his friend. It felt nice to have someone know what he had sealed inside of him, he wondered how Sakura and Sasuke would take the information. 'Maybe I'll tell them when I get back.' He thought to himself as he stared up at the ceiling until his eyes got to heavy to keep open and he let sleep take him.

OoO

Kakashi had heard that the team composed of his and Asuma's students had passed the first test. It had been a test in information gathering, one he was sure would have been difficult for Naruto, as the test questions were designed to make you cheat. Sakura had apparently be smart enough to answer the questions on her own, as was Shikamaru. Shikamaru had used his Shadow Possession Jutsu on Chouji who had been sitting two rows ahead of him, to force Chouji to write down whatever he wrote. And Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the hand movements of one of the planted Chunin who already knew the answers.

The final question had been the real test, forcing the impossible decision of taking the question and remaining a Genin forever if you got the answer wrong or quitting and failing your team, but being allowed to take the Chunin exams again at a later time. This got a lot of the Genin to give up in order to have a chance to try again when they felt more confident, however some remained including the Konoha rookies. Those who stayed to take the question passed the test. The number of Genin that made it to the first test had been cut down due to the genjutsu at room 201, now less than half that had made it this far had been eliminated leaving 18 teams to continue to the second test.

Kakashi was certainly proud of his Genin, but the next exam would test their skills in survival and combat, the Forest of Death would be unforgiving. The second exam would take place the next morning and last for five days, but for now he put that out of his mind. He double checked his apartment for any bugs or devices that could be spying on him. Once he was convinced there was nothing there, he summoned Pakkun. Hopefully he could get some more info about where Naruto and Ino were.

The ninja hound appeared out of a puff of smoke with a paw raised. "Yo." he said looking up at the Copy Ninja.

"Pakkun, I have some questions I need answered. First off when I summoned you before, what did we find at the scene?" he asked in a serious tone.

Pakkun raised an eyebrow but answered anyway. "I got the scents of everyone who'd been at the scene previously, Naruto, a girl, and the ANBU who discovered the bodies. Why? What's going on Kakashi?"

"Something happened and I've lost memories from that night, for some reason I believed that Naruto and the girl had been killed in a fire. I had no recollection of summoning you and investigating the alley, and I'm not sure what else. But after my shadow clone dispelled I recalled summoning you and why, on top of that he spied on one of the Hokage's ANBU speaking with Shimura Danzo. He mentioned something about a team from ROOT being able to 'handle two Genin.' So I have to believe they are still alive. What else can you tell me?"

"Hmm not much more unfortunately, I took you to Naruto's apartment where he and the girl had gone, but by the time we got there, the ANBU that had been at the alley had already been there. Oh and apart from her scent there was no evidence that the girl had been in the alley, so we concluded that either the ANBU destroyed it, or it was someone I couldn't detect. From what you've said it seems like we were right on the money about that ANBU." replied Pakkun.

"Yes that seems to be the case. I have a feeling I helped Naruto and the girl, Ino, get out of the village, and I have a few ideas where I might have sent them, but I'm not certain. I need to make sure I get to them before Danzo does. I'd have accounted for them being tracked by scent, and I'd have had Naruto use his clones to throw them off." said Kakashi mostly talking to himelf.

"Sounds like you covered the bases then, not sure how I can be of assistance then."

"Unfortunately I can't act freely just yet in case I'm being watched. So the next time I get sent out of the village on a mission I'll need you and the other hounds to scout out the possible locations I would have sent them. You'll mostly be going blind though, hopefully they will keep their identities as hidden as possible."

"You're not making this easy Kakashi, do you have anything to go on?" asked Pakkun exasperated.

"I'm missing the kunai that Minato sensei gave me. If it was in Naruto's pack it's likely still got my scent. It's not much but it's something."

"Got it. Call us when you're ready to begin the search." said the hound before vanishing.

OoO

Ino opened her eyes, she could see the night sky beyond the roofs of the alley. Suddenly panic set it, she tried to move but found herself unable to. Then two faces came into view, she recognized them instantly. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. The two men staring down at hear seemed to laugh, but she couldn't hear them. She could feel as her clothes were forcibly removed and peering down she could see her own nakedness. Once again she tried to move, but nothing happened, it only seemed to make the men laugh harder. Soon their hands were upon her, and she could feel their touch over every inch of exposed flesh. Ino wanted to scream, cry, close her eyes, anything, but all she could do was look on in horror as they ran their hands all over her.

Ino saw as once of the men exposed himself, and positioned himself at entrance to her womanhood. 'Are you ready Ino.' she saw his mouth move.

"_INO"_

She tried to scream again, to struggle against her attacker, but her body refused to obey, and voice unable to be heard.

"_INO!"_

She felt the pain as he thrust into her and his face came towards hers. Suddenly her hand shot out and slapped the man across the face.

OoO

It was dark all around, there were no stars above her. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, a cold sweat all over her body, and tears streaming down her face soaking the pillow beneath he head.

"Ouch Ino." said Naruto as he rubbed the side of his face. She had been flailing and crying out in her sleep, so Naruto went over in an attempt to wake her from her nightmare, but ended up paying the price as her hand came out of nowhere and landed solidly against his cheek.

Ino bolted up right and pushed herself as far back on her bed as she could at the sound of his voice. The man who had just been raping her was standing right in front of her. "NO STAY AWAY." she shouted trying desperately to get away, but her body seemed numb and wasn't responding to her orders.

Naruto didn't move, hopefully she just didn't realize where she was, cause if this was a delayed reaction to him...well he just hoped it wasn't. He slowly stepped backwards in an attempt to allow Ino to calm down. "Ino it's okay. It's me, Naruto. I'm not going to hurt you I swear on my life, yaknow."

Ino watched terrified as the bearded man backed away, and his face began to warp and shift into that of Naruto. It took her a minute to register what he had said, and she stopped struggling to get away and pulled her knees to her face and started balling. She could feel the stinging in her hand from when she slapped him, her sheets were wet, but she was so absorbed in sorrow to feel ashamed.

Naruto was once again at a loss. He wanted to comfort her, say something to her, but he could think of nothing. He wished he could bring those men back to life and kill them in the most heinous way he could think of.

"**A goal worthy of my container." **Said a familiar voice in his head.

Naruto didn't waste a second responding, he wanted advice and he would take it anywhere it came from. He would do anything to help his friend. "What should I do?" He could feel his heart ache at each of her sobs.

"**Sit next to her, and don't touch her." **Replied the Nine-tails.

Naruto thought about it for a moment, before slowly making his way to the bed. Ino didn't react to him sitting down beside her, so he took that as a good sign. Her sobs continued for several more minutes, slowly dying down, while Naruto sat in silence next to her.

It was still late in the night as Ino's crying finally subsided. She glanced over at Naruto who was quietly watching over her. His face was one of concern and anguish. In the dim light coming through the window she could see the slight outline of her hand on his face and she mentally cringed. "Sorry...about slapping you." she said hoarsely.

Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It probably looks worse that it feels." He said joking lightly. "You okay Ino?" he asked tentatively.

"I am now, thanks Naruto." she said. Her eyes, ribs, and lungs burned from crying so hard, and she felt gross in her damp clothes. She sighed heavily and moved to get off the bed. "I'm going to take a shower."

Naruto nodded as Ino took her pack into the bathroom to get clean. He moved his stuff away from his bed, to allow Ino to use it once she returned. He would sleep in the chair. 'Can I ask you something?' he questioned in his head. The Nine-tails didn't respond, but he felt like it was listening. 'Why do you want to help Ino?' He asked genuinely curious.

"**Why do you care stupid boy?" **It replied.

'Because, I just didn't think the Nine-tails would care what happened to anyone.'

"**I'm female." **

'What! Really!?' Naruto asked stunned. He'd never really thought about the Nine-tails being male or female. It definitely wasn't something that had been discussed at the academy, or he probably would have remembered...probably.

"**Don't act so surprised, stupid boy." **It was hard for Naruto not to be surprised, he could picture the voice belonging to either a man or a woman, now that he thought about it, but he'd only ever pictured the demon fox whenever he heard it. It was slightly deeper than a young woman's voice, but much smoother than a man's voice.

'Do you have a name?' Naruto felt a little guilty that he hadn't asked that before, it just seemed strange that he kept referring to her as Nine-tails in his head.

"**...Maybe I'll tell you when you've earned the right to know my name." **The Nine-tails replied.

Naruto was about to argue, but Ino emerged from the bathroom now in clean clothes again. "You can take my bed Ino." He said, letting his previous conversation drop.

Ino gave him a small smile for being so considerate. "Okay, thanks." She said as she laid down in the still warm bed. She turned so that she was facing Naruto who was relaxing in the nearby chair. She had calmed back down, the shower helped a lot, but now she was afraid to fall back asleep. "Have you ever had a really bad nightmare?" she asked.

Naruto adjusted himself into a more comfortable position in the chair before answering. "I used to have them a lot." he replied. "Before I entered the academy I sometimes got beaten by the villagers. I sometimes didn't sleep because I was afraid I wouldn't wake up. Sometimes I hated them so much, I wished they'd all just die. After I got into the academy things got better, and the nightmares eventually stopped. But I still think about those days, and sometimes it frightens me, what I might have been like if Iruka sensei hadn't saved me that night." He was glad that he had someone to share this with, it already felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "But I don't have anymore nightmares, ever since I've been part of Team 7. Me and Sasuke argue and fight a lot, but I still think he's my best friend. And Sakura calls me annoying and always talks about Sasuke, but she's smart, and does her best to keep me and Sasuke in line."

Ino felt a little better now, knowing Naruto had gotten past his nightmares, hopefully hers would pass with time too. Ino nodded. "I know how you feel. Shikamaru is lazy, but he always comes up with a plan, even when things look rough. And Chouji eats a lot and doesn't have much self confidence, but he's always kind and he's stronger than he gives himself credit for."

Naruto smiled warmly. "I know it hasn't been long, but I miss them already, yaknow. I was really looking forward to going through the Chunin exams together. Ino nodded in agreement. "Anyway, you should get some sleep. I'll wake you up if you start to have a nightmare okay?"

"Okay...Thanks again." she replied as she allowed her eyes to close and sleep to take her once more.

"Anytime Ino." Naruto said as shifted again in the chair and listened to Ino's even breathing as she began to fall asleep. He stayed awake to make sure that she was going to sleep peacefully, but his eye got too heavy to keep open, and soon did the same.

OoO

**There you have it. I'm glad I've gotten out five chapters this soon, and I hope I can keep updating often. I am however a little disappointed in the lack of reviews considering how many people are following my story. Oh well any review is nice. As always if you have suggestions I'm willing to hear them. Next chapter we will venture into the forest of death and see how our four man team handles Orochimaru, as well as possibly introducing a new teacher for Naruto and Ino (if you can guess who I commend you.) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I'm feeling the love! I don't own Linkin Park or their songs.**

**To dasross it doesn't matter what you say, it can be as simple as 'great chapter' or 'update soon' or 'you suck' lol admittedly that last one I wouldn't mind so long as you give me a reason, so that I can work on being a better writer. Basically any review is appreciated. **

**To TheOmegaCrimsonKnight thanks that's very flattering, I'm glad you enjoy my story so much, and it's my plan to keep it going for quite a while. **

**To Kight'sShade giving Naruto a more substantial blade was my intention, however I don't know that I could justify giving him that one at least not until Shippuden (But I will definitely consider it) As for your other suggestion, that is the plan (good job at being so predictive!) **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and if you catch a mistake or think you'd like to see something in my fic, as always, feel free to let me know. Holy crap just read the most recent chapter of Naruto...I can't wait for the final fight between Naruto and Sasuke in the anime, I dedicate my fic to the end of Naruto Shippuden!**

**OoO**

Mitarashi Anko was a short kunoichi, with short dark hair held back in a spiky ponytail. She wore a mesh body suit that didn't leave much to the imagination, over which she wore a short brown skirt and a trench coat along with a pair of ankle boots, complete with shin guards. Said woman was looking over the roster of remaining teams. 'Ibiki certainly didn't mess around. Less than a third of the teams are left.' She thought to herself. Of the eighteen remaining teams there were six teams from Konoha (Including all of this years rookies!), two teams from Sunagakure, one team from Otogakure, two teams from Kusagakure, three teams from Amegakure, and four teams from Takigakure.

It was early in the morning and Anko was standing before the remaining teams gathered in front of the Forty-fourth training ground, also known as 'The Forest of Death.' "All right maggots, listen up! This is the second stage of the Chunin exams. Take a good look around you, because at least half of you won't be making it to the third round." There were cries of exasperation and dismay, but she squashed it immediately. "SHUT IT! I'm only going to explain this once. Each team will be given one of two scrolls." She said holding up two scrolls, one with the kanji for heaven and one with the kanji for earth.

"To pass the second stage, you need to obtain one of each scroll and make it to the tower at the center of the forest. Before you go thinking that this is going to be easy, think again, not only will you be fighting the teams around you, you will be facing off against the forest itself. The forest has a ten kilometer radius and there are a plethora of dangerous beasts, bugs, and plants that will put all of your survival skills to the test. There is also a time limit of five days, after which those teams who have not reached the tower with one of each scroll are automatically disqualified. You were all given your scrolls and starting gate number when you turned in your waivers. Now any questions?"

An Amegakure ninja raised his hand, "Yes, are we allowed to kill our opponents to get the scroll?"

Anko smiled sadistically, "You are cleared to do whatever you need to do to retrieve the scroll." The air around the group tensed as killing intent began permeating the area. It seemed everyone had a beef with someone there.

One particular Kusa kunoichi had her eyes glued to Sasuke Uchiha. Unconsciously she licked her lips with her exceptionally long tongue.

The Oto team was also keeping a close eye on Sasuke Uchiha. "Ok this is our chance." said Dosu, speaking to his teammates. "Our only mission here is to kill Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yeah yeah, we know." replied Kin.

"I can't wait to rip him a new one." said Zaku, excitedly.

One of the Suna teams was calm and collected on the surface, but inside the shortest of them a lust for blood was building fast. 'Soon mother, soon I will give you all their blood.'

Most teams seemed to have already picked their targets. "Okay get to your starting gate, the second exam begins in one hour, and one more thing, DON'T DIE." Said Anko dismissing the teams.

OoO

Team '17' were all gathered at their starting gate waiting for the starting signal. Sakura was checking over her equipment, Sasuke was leaning against the fence with an uninterested look on his face, Chouji was sitting in the grass with his back to a boulder eating chips, and Shikamaru was laying near his friend looking up at the clouds slowly passing by overhead. He thought it was troublesome, but someone had to address the elephant in the room. "I think before the test starts we should discuss what each of us is good at. While we have the advantage of numbers over the other teams, the fact of the matter is that we don't really know enough about each other to work effectively as a unit, and that will hinder us more than the numbers help us." stated Shikamaru lazily. "It's a drag, but since I suggested it, I'll go first. I'm not much of a fighter, taijutsu or ninjutsu, I'm more of the sit back and plan kind of guy." Both Sasuke and Sakura listened intently.

'Not sure that's any different than being lazy.' thought Sakura giving a deadpan look in his direction that he couldn't see anyway.

"I can trap an opponent with my Shadow Possession Jutsu, and I'm pretty skilled in setting up traps, it's just a drag to have to rely on them." He finished, looking over to Chouji.

"I'm more of a fighter than Shika, and I focus mostly on combining my Body Expansion ninjutsu with taijutsu, I'm not very fast though." Said Chouji. Once he finished he started eating chips again.

Sasuke spoke up next. "I'm decent in taijutsu, but I'm stronger in my Fire Style ninjutsu and probably the fastest here. I also have the Sharingan."

Sakura was starting to feel inadequate, the rest of her team all had something that made them a force to be reckoned with on their own. Shikamaru may not have been much of a fighter, but he still added something to the group in being able to capture an opponent. She herself was only passable at basic ninjutsu, traps, taijutsu, and zero genjutsu to speak of. For once she didn't feel much like a ninja. "Most of my skills are just basics, the only place I really excelled were my written test scores."

Once he'd heard what everyone had to say, the pineapple haired boy sat up and knelt in the position he took whenever he was stuck on a move in shogi. 'Obviously our heavy hitters are Sasuke and Chouji, and we don't have much in way of dealing with long range opponents, though in the forest that shouldn't be too much of an issue. The easiest route to take is to head straight to the tower and ambush a team that already has both scrolls that way we don't waste time searching for another team and we don't run the risk of said team not having the scroll we need to begin with. Since none of us really exceed in scouting we'll need to keep a tight formation.' "Ok I have a plan." stated Shikamaru as he stood up.

OoO

The light of the sun streamed in through the window hitting Naruto in the face causing him to wake groggily. After letting out a large yawn, he looked over at Ino to see she was still sleeping, and didn't seem like she suffered another nightmare. He took the extra pair of clean clothes, and went into the bathroom to take a shower. As he showered he wondered what they were supposed to do until Kakashi came to get them. He really hated the fact that he'd had to leave the village, if this hadn't happened, they'd be taking part in the Chunin exams. Kakashi had told him to train, but apart from working on physical training and maybe accuracy with his weapons, there wasn't much he could train on by himself. 'Oh well, I guess I'll just find a tree and work some more on chakra control for today at least.' he thought to himself as he dried off and redressed.

He stepped out of the bathroom and saw Ino sitting up awake. She noticed him and gave him a small smile. "Good morning." she said as she stretched her sleeping muscles. "So what are we going to do until Kakashi comes to get us?" The money he had given them would last them a week at best and neither of them had their money, so they had to rely on what Kakashi had supplied them with. Thankfully they were capable of hunting for food, and neither had any qualms about sleeping outside at least while the weather was nice. The real problem would be that if this took too long, they would be missing out on training and fall behind their fellow shinobi. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to resolve and Kakashi would come get them.

"Not sure, I guess we can do some training on our own. Kinda sucks that we're missing the Chunin exams, yaknow." Naruto replied, gathering his ninja tools and some of the gear Kakashi had sent them with. "I'm gonna go walk up a tree and work on my chakra control."

Ino had heard of the ability to use chakra to stick to surfaces, but she had yet to learn it herself, the fact that Naruto was one step ahead of her yet again made her jealousy return. "Could you teach me?" she asked.

Naruto smiled widely at Ino, "Of course! It's not too hard once you get the hang of it. It took me and Sasuke a couple days to get it, but Sakura got it right away."

This surprised Ino, to hear that Sasuke had as much trouble as Naruto at learning something, but that Sakura had been able to do it before him. 'I wonder if I can do it right away too?' Ino prepared as well and before leaving they transformed into their pseudo identities. They walked through town, and everything seemed peaceful, people were just waking up, shops preparing to open for the day, the sound of morning birds could be heard every so often. Upon reaching the outskirts of town then began running to the treeline of the forest that was the Land of Fire's most prevalent feature. "So can you tell me what I have to do?" she asked as they ran.

Naruto thought for a moment, he wasn't good at explaining stuff. "You have to gather chakra at the bottom of your feet and use it to stick to the tree, but you can't use too much or it will push you off the tree, and if you use too little you won't stick. Sakura told me you can't let yourself get worked up or your chakra won't do what you want it to. Kakashi said for beginners you should get a running start to get a feel for it."

Ino nodded in response, "So who which of you got it first, you or Sasuke?"

"Tch, that bastard Sasuke may have been able to reach the top of the tree before me, but I still caught up." said Naruto, indignantly.

'I knew it.' Ino thought to herself as she imagined her crush in competition with Naruto running up a tree. She remembered all the times Naruto challenged Sasuke at the academy, and not once had he beaten Sasuke. Though that must have spoken volumes about her own abilities considering she seemed to be behind Naruto.

They ventured a little ways into the forest so that they wouldn't be disturbed, and Naruto dropped his excess gear. "Okay I'll show you how it works, then we'll see how you do." Naruto focused the amount of chakra he thought he'd need and started running towards the tree, once he got two steps up it he fell straight down on to his back. "Ow damn it."

Ino burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? Are you sure you can make it to the top Naruto?" she said while giggling and watching him pick himself up and dust off.

"It's not funny, yaknow. And yes I can, I just haven't done this in a while." he retorted, feeling a bit embarrassed about his fluke. Naruto stepped back and once again gathered chakra at the soles of his feet before running at and up the tree.

Ino watched in astonishment as Naruto took off up the tree easily navigating through the branches, and then reaching the top, he turned around, sticking perpendicular off the tree, smiled at Ino. "Told you I could do it!" He tossed a kunai down at her feet. "Now you try, and mark the tree at the highest point you reach."

Ino picked up the kunai and looked back up at the tall tree, starting to feel a little skeptical about her chances. She did as Naruto suggested and gave herself some room for a running start. 'If Naruto and Billboard Brow can do this then so can I.' she thought confidently as she gathered chakra into her feet and started running at the tree.

OoO

Team '17' was moving swiftly through the Forest of Death. The formation Shikamru had come up with had Chouji at the lead, he was most likely to endure an initial attack. Sakura and himself were in the middle, relatively close together, they were pure support for wherever the attack came from, front or back. And Sasuke was at the rear, able to fend off attacks from behind with his Fire Style, also he was the fastest and could reach the center or front of the formation if the need arose. Thirty minutes into the exam and they could hear the sounds of combat and screams coming from other parts of the forest. So far they'd avoided any confrontation which was the main goal of their plan until they came within view of the tower.

A lone Amegakure ninja lay in wait in the hollow of a tree. His team split up in an attempt to acquire a scroll faster, and being experts at stealth and genjutsu made them able to take on multiple opponents easily. 'Lucky.' he thought to himself as a chubby ninja passed over head in the branches, seeminly unaware of his presence. He waited a moment and another two passed by, a boy with a spiky ponytail and a girl with long pink hair. He was just about to make his move while they had their backs turned, but stopped and another ninja passed overhead. 'Unlucky. Is he tracking them? Hmm no, they should have noticed him at that proximity. I must really be unlucky, that must be the four man team from Konoha. Well only one way to find out if they have a Heaven scroll.' He vanished from his spot, planning to attack the boy at the back and assume his form.

Sasuke could feel something approaching him from behind. He activated his Sharingan and whistled up at Shikamaru and Sakura as was their planned signal. The plan was this situation was for them to keep going just in case this was a trap and circle back behind the enemy while Chouji came straight back and cut off any escape route the enemies might try to take. After signaling his teammates he turned and faced a seemingly empty forest. "I know you're there, you might as well come out and face me." He said trying to taunt his opponents into revealing themselves. Just after he said that he heard something hit the bottom side of the branch he was standing on. Without really thinking about it he jumped off the branch just as it exploded into a fire ball of splinters. With his Sharingan he could detect a ninja wearing an Amegakure headband, a full body suit, and a re-breather, hiding near the base of the tree he had been standing on.

'Damn unlucky.' the Ame-nin thought to himself as he turned to flee the angered Uchiha. He had hoped to at least have maimed his with that sneak attack, but he seemed no worse for wear.

"There you are." Said Sasuke as he started forming hand signs in mid air. "**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu.**" He shouted spouting small balls of fire from his mouth, directing his attacker as he dodged the fiery jutsu.

Just as the Ame-nin thought he was going to be able to hide again, he froze in place. "What the hell?!" he said as he looked around.

"Shadow Possession successful." He heard from a voice in a bush to his right. Shikamaru stepped out of the bushes and the Ame-nin mimicked his actions. "You seem to be here by yourself." The Ame-nin was then surrounded by the rest of the team on all sides.

'So unlucky.' "Lucky for me I don't have the scroll." he said hopefully they'd just let him go without feeling the need to kill him.

Sasuke checked him over before confirming that he had spoken the truth, and knocked him out so Shikamaru could let go his Shadow Possession.

"Wow Shikamaru, you're plan worked really well." said Sakura as Sasuke tied up their captive so that he wouldn't interfere again.

"Yeah, too bad he didn't have the scroll on him." he replied lazily. "Why can't this just be easy?"

"Come on Shika, it's not that bad." Said Chouji as he was nearing the end of his current bag of chips.

"We should keep moving." said Sasuke having finished securing the Ame-nin. "Let's stick to the plan and get to the tower." Just as the team of four was about to head out again, they could feel the earth beneath them start to rumble.

"What is that?" asked Sakura feeling slightly scared. Something large was coming towards them at an alarming rate. Suddenly a tree in front of them, where the rumbling was coming from, burst and from it charged the largest boa constrictor any of them had seen. Sasuke and Sakura being the furthest from the point of attack were able to dodge, but Shikamaru and Chouji directly in the path of it's open maw. With a speed that seemed unlikely from the large Genin, he grabbed the back of Shikamaru's jacket and threw him safely out of the path before being swallowed by the large serpent. After eating Chouji it sped off into the forest as quickly as it had appeared.

Before the rest of Team 17 could chase after the snake, a tall Kusagakura kunoichi appeared in their path. She had long dark hair covered by a straw hat, a tan tunic over a black full body suit, and a large purple rope belt. A long large tongue emerged from her mouth, licking her lips. "It's seems your teammate provided my pet with a 'substantial' meal." She said tauntingly.

Sakura, Shikamaru, and Sasuke drew weapons and prepared to attack, they needed to deal with this treat fast so that they could rescue Chouji. Sasuke would take the lead and keep the opponents attention while Saukra prepared traps that would help Shikamaru snare her with his shadow. Shikamaru had been sure to cover any situation that might occur on this exam, and had them commit his strategies to memory. 'Damn it's just one troublesome thing after another.' he thought staring at the imposing woman.

"I bet you need this." She said holding up and Earth scroll. She smiled deviously as she could see the reaction in their eyes. She then held it up and proceeded to swallow the entire scroll. "Well if you want it you will have to kill me for it. This will be a fight to the death." He said.

All three Genin got a vision of their vivid and swift deaths, bringing them to their knees and dropping their weapons. Sasuke vomited but was still relatively able to think but a quick glace at Sakura and Shikamaru told him that they had been rendered unable to react. 'Was that genjutsu?' He thought glaring at the kunoichi who smiled smugly at them. 'No that was just killing intent! It's so strong, we imagined our own deaths!' He struggled to stand, eliciting a laugh from the vile Kusa-nin.

"I'm impressed you're not completely paralyzed, but it's only a small matter, you're still a sitting duck to me." she said as she drew three kunai.

'Come on move, move, move.' Thought Sasuke to himself desperately. He picked up his dropped kunai and plunged it into his leg. 'MOVE!' he managed to grab Sakura and Shikamaru and leap out of the way just as she threw her kunai at them.

'Impressive, he managed to block out the fear with pain. I can't wait to see what else you're capable of my dear Sasuke.' she thought as she took her time in searching for her prey.

OoO

Inside the snake, Chouji was having difficulty moving. He'd attempted to cut himself out with a kunai but it proved futile. He'd also tried his Partial Expansion jutsu, but he couldn't make the snake pop open. 'Damn it, I need to get back to the team.' he thought, reaching for a chip to help him focus. His bag slipped out of his hand and the last chip from the bag fell out, it was quickly dissolved and vanished. "That was the last chip...MY LAST CHIP." he shouted, quickly pulling out wires with kunai attached and wrapping them around his body. "No one eats the last chip except me. **Super Expansion Jutsu: Spiky Human Boulder." **He began rolling rapidly causing the snakes muscles to contract giving Chouji's kunai and spiky hair the traction they needed to dig into flesh. "Rollrollrollroll." He said repeatedly as he gradually made his way back up and out of the snake, ripping the snakes head to shreds as he shot out like a cannon ball.

After coming to a stop he examined his surroundings and found the likely path that the snake had come here on, and took off in hopes he'd run into his teammates. He wiped his face of snake gore and opened a new bag of chips. 'Hope you guys are okay,'

OoO

When Sakura gained awareness of her surroundings she found that she was in a tree with Sasuke and Shikamaru, both looked absolutely alert. She noticed the wound on Sasuke's leg and was about to say something but his had shot out and covered her mouth. He was searching everywhere with his Sharingan active. 'I've never seen Sasuke this worked up before.'

Suddenly a large snake came up from below striking the tree where the three Genin had just been having scattered. It was clearly chasing Sasuke. As Sasuke was fleeing backwards away from the snake he could see in it's eyes the same killing intent that had come from the Kusa-nin. "NO STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he shouted, unleashing half a dozen shuriken into the face of the approaching snake, causing it a mortal wound.

OoO

_Yo, yo  
>Forfeit the game<br>Before somebody else  
>Takes you out of the frame<br>Puts your name to shame  
>Cover up your face<br>You can't run the race  
>The pace is too fast<br>You just won't last_

OoO

All three watched in horror as said kunoichi emerged from the flesh of the dead serpent staring murderously at Sasuke. 'We can't get away from her!' "Here's the scroll just take it and go." He said holding up, it was that only way they could avoid a fight.

"Fufufufu That's right, keep your guard up. Prey must always be alert in the face of a predator. And just like prey you offer your predator even tastier bait in order to escape. However why negotiate when I can just kill you and take it!" she replied biting her thumb and running the blood down a seal array on her arm, summoning another larger snake. 'Come on Sasuke, entertain me some more.'

OoO

_You love the way I look at you_  
><em>While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through<em>  
><em>You take away if I give in<em>  
><em>My life, my pride is broken<em>

OoO

The giant snake was bearing down on the frozen young Uchiha when without warning, "**Super Expansion Jutsu: Human Boulder." **Chouji's massive rolling form slammed down on the head of the snake, just missing the Kusa-nin. Before Chouji could stop spinning the Kusa-nin kicked him with enough force to break his jutsu and send him smashing into a tree. Shikamaru and Sakura tossed kunai into the unconscious Genin's jacket attaching him to the tree so he didn't fall to his death.

"I suppose I need to deal with the trash first." She said, her tongue hanging out hungrily.

OoO

_You like to think you're never wrong  
>(You like to think you're never wrong)<br>You have to act like you're someone  
>(You have to act like you're someone)<br>You want someone to hurt like you  
>(You want someone to hurt like you)<br>You want to share what you've been through  
>(You live what you've learned)<em>

OoO

Sasuke stood still frozen in fear, when suddenly he had a flashback. On their mission to the Land of Waves he had stood up against Chunin while Naruto had been to paralyzed to move, and he'd taunted him. Suddenly Naruto's face flashed before his eyes, 'What's wrong, scaredy-cat.' He recovered and gathered as much chakra as he could in his feet before kicking of the branch with all his strength. He cut off the Kusa-nin before she could reach Shikamaru or Sakura and delivered a devastating kick to her face sending her sprawling through the air onto the branch of a nearby tree.

OoO

_You love the things I say I'll do_  
><em>The way I'll hurt myself again just to get back at you<em>  
><em>You take away when I give in<em>  
><em>My life, my pride is broken<em>

OoO

Sasuke didn't waste anytime continuing his assault from above her in the air, going through that hand signs. "**Fire Style: Giant Fireball!**" He let loose a large torrent of flame that seemed to engulf the kunoichi, as he could hear her screams. With his Sharingan though he could see her beyond the flame, melt into a pile of mud. 'Damn it a mud clone.' He thought just in time to block shuriken that were thrown from behind him.

Shikamaru gathered his wits, noticing Sakura was still in no shape to act. He needed to get a hold of that woman so Sasuke could land a solid blow on her. He quickly pulled out some shuriken and all the paper bombs he had on him.

OoO

_You like to think you're never wrong_  
><em>(You like to think you're never wrong)<em>  
><em>You have to act like you're someone<em>  
><em>(You have to act like you're someone)<em>  
><em>You want someone to hurt like you<em>  
><em>(You want someone to hurt like you)<em>  
><em>You want to share what you've been through<em>  
><em>You live what you've learned<em>

OoO

Sasuke landed on a large branch away from the psychotic woman, and pulled out all his shuriken that he'd attached thin wire to and threw them past her. She seemed unimpressed at his aim as they all sailed past her. By the time she noticed the wire it was too late, he pulled them taut and cause them to come back, wrapping the wires around her and tying her effectively to the tree. Sasuke held that other ends tightly and went quickly through his hand signs once more. "**Fire Style: Giant Fireball!**"

OoO

_Yo, yo_  
><em>Forfeit the game<em>  
><em>Before somebody else<em>  
><em>Takes you out of the frame<em>  
><em>Puts your name to shame<em>  
><em>Cover up your face<em>  
><em>You can't run the race<em>  
><em>The pace is too fast<em>  
><em>You just won't last<em>

OoO

Orochimaru smiled as the fireball incinerated his guise and the tree he was attached to. Sasuke Uchiha's skills were magnificent and his Sharingan was beautiful. 'Soon it will be mine.' Just as Sasuke relaxed he shot forth from the burning tree intent on leaving his mark on the boy, ensuring his fate, but suddenly he was stopped in place mere feet away from Sasuke.

OoO

_Forfeit the game_  
><em>Before somebody else<em>  
><em>Takes you out of the frame (frame)<em>  
><em>Puts your name to shame<em>  
><em>Cover up your face<em>  
><em>(You) You can't run the race<em>  
><em>The pace is too fast<em>  
><em>You just won't last<em>

OoO

Sasuke smiled smugly as he'd dropped his guard to lure his opponent towards him so that Shikamaru could trap him. Who ever this was, cause he was sure they were using some kind of disguise now that half of another face was visible, was thoroughly screwed. Shikamaru had pulled the same trick at the Ame-nin and littered the underside of the branch Sasuke was standing on with paper bombs attached to shuriken. After which he got behind the Kusa-nin having been forgotten in her single-minded focus of Sasuke, and captured her with his shadow.

"Fufufu I suppose I got too excited." the person said in a new voice.

Sasuke jumped away preparing the last of his chakra, "**Fire Style: Giant Fireball.**" He shot fire from his mouth once more, and again hit his target and at the same time Shikamaru activated all his prepared paper bombs, obliterating the branch and anything near it. Thankfully that had been quick cause he had been barely able to stop her with the amount of chakra he'd had left.

OoO

_You like to think you're never wrong  
>(You like to think you're never wrong)<br>You have to act like you're someone  
>(You have to act like you're someone)<br>You want someone to hurt like you  
>(You want someone to hurt like you)<br>You want to share what you've been through  
>You like to think you're never wrong<br>(You like to think you're never wrong)  
>You have to act like you're someone<br>(You have to act like you're someone)  
>You want someone to hurt like you<br>(You want someone to hurt like you)  
>You want to share what you've been through<br>You live what you've learned_

OoO

The unmoving body of the kunoichi dropped to the ground. Sasuke and Shikamaru collapsed both completely exhausted. Sakura looked on happy that they were alive. But their mirth was short lived as the mouth of the corpse opened wider than it should have been capable and out slithered a man with dark long hair, slitted pupils, purple shadows around his eyes, and much the same clothing as the Kusa-nin had been wearing, only he donned an Otogakure headband.

"Splendid, to think that you pushed me as far as having to use Snake Rebirth." Said Orochimaru, standing in front of a horrified Sasuke. "You will become even stronger." he said as he quickly extended his neck, closing the distance to Sasuke and biting down on his neck, marking him with the Cursed Seal of Heaven. 'Soon all that power will be mine.' He smiled down at the writhing Uchiha "My name is Orochimaru, you should do well to remember it, seek me out when you desire power." With that Orochimaru vanished.

"Come on Sakura." Shikamaru said helping her up. "We need to get out of here fast." All he really wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but he would forgo his lazy attitude this once so that they could get to safety. Sakura picked up Sasuke who seemed to be unconscious but crying out in pain, and Shikamaru got Chouji down from the tree. 'I swear if I make it out of here I'm staying a Genin forever, this is too troublesome.'

OoO

Ino smiled at Naruto who was in the tree next to her. She hadn't been able to get it on the first try like Sakura had, but she did manage to get the technique down before the end of the day, much to the dismay of Naruto. "See? I told you I could do it." She said mostly to herself, as sweat beaded on her face.

"Tch Yeah yeah, I never said you couldn't, yaknow." replied Naruto, who had been working on continuous control while Ino trained. He felt a twinge of anger that she had mastered it far faster than he had, but still he was happy for her, and couldn't help smiling back in the way he always did.

Ino laughed as she walked down to a lower branch and took a seat. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was a cloudless bright orange. "Thanks for teaching me Naruto. We should keep training, since we're missing out on the Chunin exams." While she had been practicing, they had talked about Naruto's mission to the Land of Waves, and what all had occurred there. She would have been terrified when she'd heard that Naruto had thought Sasuke was dead if she hadn't already known better. He'd also talked about the strange boy he'd met in the woods who turned out the be the hunter ninja that was allied with Zabuza. He'd spoken of how they died, one believing that his life was only meant as a tool for the other, and one, who'd believed ninja were meant to be use and be used. It was a sad tale, and it had given him the drive to find his own way. She couldn't help but respect him for that.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto replied as he also took a seat on a branch. "We can't slack now when our teams are out there working their butts off."

Ino nodded in response and enjoyed the sunset. Not far away in the thick of the forest stood a pale skinned woman with collarbone length black hair, tied at the end, and short bangs that parted right and swept over her brow. She wore a light brown kimono with black edges, and black ankle boots. She had come across the duo training and had hid and listened intently as they spoke about an adventure that had been filled with excitement and sadness. She'd hung on their every word, making sure she didn't miss anything. She wanted to speak to them, but decided against it for now, and walked back towards her home in the forest with tears running down her fair face.

OoO

**BOOM there you go, anyone have a guess as to the mystery woman? I love writing song fics, it's helps with the creative juices. Longest chapter yet btw, though I'm sure the song helped. Again thanks for all the reviews, and I'd like to see 60 total so that I have an average of 10 per chapter. I don't think that's asking much. As always if I made a mistake or you want to see something done differently, speak up. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: So far no one's guessed who the mystery woman is, and I probably won't reveal until the next chapter, so one more chance to guess and impress. I suppose due to complaints I'll be keeping the songs inside my head (oh well)**

**To ShadouRyu-kun, thank you, in all honesty I consider myself a novice, but I am working on my skills. I read your profile page, definitely appreciate you looking out for the writers here on Ffnet reviews are the life blood of the fics, and I hope more readers adopt your philosophy on reviewing.**

**To oghren, I'm both looking forward to and dreading the invasion. By principle it's going to be one of the longest and most action packed chapters, so I hope I can meet your expectations, and as for Gaara, I have plans, so you'll find out soon enough.**

**To dasross, I already messaged you about your question, but for everyone's sake I'll explain something. Should a jinchuriki die, the tailed beast is free to reform, but the process takes years (This is why the Akatsuki do everything in their power to capture them alive, otherwise they'd just kill them and capture the beast.) This is why no one is suspicious about the Nine-tails not being around after Naruto 'died.' (I'm fairly confident that my explanation is canon, but in case it isn't this is how it works in my fic.)**

**One last note, I have a NaruHina fic bouncing around in my head, I've been writing down notes so I don't forget, but I won't be working on it until I reach near the end of this fic (Which will not be for a while. I love NaruHina pairing above all, but NaruIno is a close second and Naru/any fem except Sakura is good in my opinion.) Also I feel like I need to rant about this:(spoilers) Obito is an IDIOT. (I liked young Obito) Why is a world wide genjutsu with Rin in it, better than just bringing Rin back to life. Am I the only one who saw Nagato resurrect a bunch of dead people!? Even if you argued that it only works on recently dead, Obito's plan was to have Nagato use this power to resurrect Madara which blows that argument out of the water...why would he not just resurrect Rin!? Just don't get it.**

OoO

Danzo sat alone in his mostly bare office, overlooking reports that had been sent to the Hokage, looking for any sign that someone was suspicious of the current events involving the Jinchuriki and kunoichi who had the unfortunate luck to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. So far he seemed satisfied that no word was made that suggested they were still alive, Foo was a useful tool indeed. Normally he would have been paying closer attention to the Chunin exams to looks for up and coming shinobi, however soon that system would be done away with, and he'd implement a new means for promotions once he became Hokage. Hiruzen was too trusting and blind, he didn't see that Suna and Oto had joined together to plan an invasion against the village, and he himself was a target of his old student. Danzo had gotten word from his spy network well in advance to plan his actions around theirs, it worked out well in his favor. He and the members of ROOT would remain underground till he was certain Hiruzen was dealt with, then they would emerge and repel the attackers with full force. There was no standing against the might of Konoha, Orochimaru had to know that, but Suna probably didn't and were tricked into an alliance with Oto that was really only meant to serve the Sannin's agenda. Perhaps if his former teammate had the foresight to use that fool of a Sannin, Jiraiya, to spy on other villages, he'd have known about the invasion by now. He may have disliked the man but his skills in espionage and the sage arts were unrivaled, he would make far better use of them than Hiruzen had.

It seemed that everything was in his favor, Hiruzen and Orochimaru would hopefully take care of each other, Suna would be weakened in the futile attack against Konoha's superior might, and with the remaining two Sannin roaming the continent, the elders would have no choice to offer the position of Hokage to him. As he was nearing the end of the stack of reports three of his subordinates entered his office. Koga Inuzuka, Hishin Hyuga, and Torune Aburame. They all had stoic faces and waited till they were addressed. "I guess Kakashi did well in getting them out of the village if you haven't found them by now." said Danzo. He was mildly disappointed that even with the superior tracking abilities of an Inuzuka and a Hyuga, they hadn't found the Jinchuriki, but he had plenty of time to deal with that now that the village thought he was dead.

Koga was dressed in a tight form fitting shirt that showed his impressive muscles along with baggy pants lined at the waist and ankles with fake fur. He had shoulder length messy hair much like most Inuzukas. Hishin wore a white kimono shirt with loose fitting black hakama. His hair was black, and much shorter than most Hyuga. Torune wore a full mask, a short jacket over a trench coat, over a black body suit, a pair of gloves, and loose military pants. He had short spiky, dark hair.

"Sorry Danzo, man, the kid is able to make a ridiculous amount of shadow clones, and Kakashi masked their scent so I couldn't separate the reals from the fakes, and neither could Hishin. We must have tracked down dozens of his clones, man." Said Koga. He may not have had emotions, but it was impossible to rid him of his manner of speech.

"We found all the trails, and the most likely one ended in Tanzaku Town. So we returned for further orders." Said Hishin.

"Hmm sounds like Kakashi sent him west, odds are he wouldn't send them out of the Land of Fire. Check any and all towns between Tanzaku and the border. Only return if you haven't found them in a month, I will need you here for when the invasion begins." replied Danzo. "Dismissed." and the three men vanished from his office. 'It matters not if I don't find the Jinchuriki by then, I will protect Konoha at all costs.'

OoO

Once again Ino was awakened from a nightmare, by Naruto. Though this time her reaction to the nightmare was much less extreme. It still wasn't dawn and Naruto sat down on his bed across from her once she was awake. She waited for her shaking to stop before she spoke, "Thanks Naruto." she said calming down and laying against the headrest of the bed.

"Anytime." Naruto replied., it pained him to see his friend so shaken up. "I'll stay up with you if you'd like." He offered. He couldn't help feeling like he had a kindred spirit in Ino, it made him feel sorry for his friend but also a little glad that he could be there for her.

Ino nodded silently and slipped back under the blanket turning on her side to face Naruto who continued to watch Ino. His gaze was strangely comforting. Perhaps because Naruto had woken from similar nightmares, only he didn't have someone to watch over his like this. She allowed her tired mind wander, thinking about how Sakura, Sasuke, her team, sensei, and family were doing. Before she fell asleep she remembered hoping they would be able to go home soon.

Naruto kept an eye over the sleeping form of Ino until his eyes were too heavy to keep open and he fell back in bed allowing sleep to take him. The next time he opened his eyes sunlight was streaming in through the window. He sat up and looked to Ino's bed, where she was still sleeping peacefully. He felt an unexplainable warmth fill him, as he looked at her face, that spread up to his. He had never spent this much time alone with anyone before, especially not someone his own age. Naruto shook his head and decided to get ready for today's training. As he looked through his pack for things that Kakashi had given them, he found a strange three pronged kunai with a seal wrapped around the handle. 'What is this?' He hadn't realized Kakashi had put that in his pack, but he got a feeling of familiarity when he grasped it, so he decided to keep it on him. 'Can I ask you something?' he queried the demon fox inside him.

"**...What, stupid boy?**" Naruto could feel her reply lazily.

'Will you tell me what happened thirteen years ago? Were you really attacking the village?' He hadn't thought much of it before, everyone who'd ever talked about it at the academy never said much about it other than how the Fourth Hokage gave his life to stop the Nine-tails attack. 'Did you really just show up and start attacking Konoha?'

"**Just as I thought, you really are a stupid boy.**" The Nine-tails ignored Naruto's indignant response to her comment and continued. "**Yes I was attacking the village, but I didn't just show up. I don't really see a reason to tell you, it's not going to change anything.**"

'I don't really get it I guess, but I was thinking maybe you had a good reason. I remember wanting to hurt the villagers for the way they treated me. Sometimes I even wished they'd all just disappear.'

"**Hmph.**" The Nine-tails huffed. Naruto got the feeling that she was done talking so he decided to give up and wait for Ino to wake up.

Ino woke up not long after Naruto had finished preparing for their day. After giving a large yawn she greeted Naruto and began preparing as well. Once they were both ready, they transformed and left their room. "So what are we going to do today?" asked Ino, "I mean tree walking is good and all but we've both pretty much got the hang of it. We're not going to get much better if that's all we do."

Naruto knew that but he wasn't sure what else they could do without a sensei to help them. "We could do some sparring today at least, and then I don't know." replied Naruto.

Ino nodded in agreement and after they got breakfast they made their way to the edge of the forest again.

OoO

It was nearing the middle of the second day as Sakura and Shikamaru holed up underneath a tree. Niether Sasuke nor Chouji had regained consciousness, but they were both breathing, and their conditions seemed to have stabilized overnight. Sakura and Shikamaru had taken turns keeping watch so that neither of them would be too tired to fend off would be attackers. So far things had been quiet, but Shikamaru didn't leave things to chance, he and Sakura set up plenty of traps just in case.

The sun streamed down to the forest floor through the leaves above, as Sakura changed the now dry hand towels with new cool wet ones, placing them gently on Sasuke's and Chouji's forehead. Shikamaru noticed a squirrel approaching their location from his place resting against the base of the tree. He lazily picked up a rock and tossed it at the small mammal, before it could set off one of their traps. The offended squirrel turned and ran in a different direction. 'I hope Sasuke and Chouji wake up soon, this is such a drag.' He abandoned complaining to the pink haired kunoichi as it only got him yelled at for being lazy, and that was troublesome.

A short distance away Kin, Zaku, and Dosu watched as their trap was scared off. "Do you think he noticed the paper bomb?" asked Zaku.

"Hmmm, no I don't think so, he's alert, but not on guard." replied Dosu. If the boy had noticed it, surely he would have warned his partner and they would attempt to flee. "Just in case, Kin grab another squirrel." It only took her a few moment away and she brought back another one, handing it to Dosu. Dosu used his sound waves to make the squirrel run in the direction of the four Konoha shinobi.

Once again Shikamaru noticed a squirrel approaching from roughly the same direction. 'Damn, this is troublesome.' He picked up another rock and repeated his previous action scaring the poor rodent into running away. He whistled lightly to get Sakura's attention and started writing in the dirt next to him with the kunai he'd been twirling.

Dosu saw him scare off the squirrel again and begin doodling in the dirt next to him. "Well it's obvious he didn't notice the bomb on the last one, so it must be something else." 'Is he just being cautious?'

"Ugh this is so boring, I say we go out there and kill them all." said Zaku impatiently.

"For once I actually agree with Zaku, let's just get rid of these brats and kill Sasuke while he's resting."

"Fools. Fine, on my signal." said Dosu preparing to launch their assault.

Shikamaru jumped to his feet as the three sound shinobi emerged from the woods. 'This isn't good, they outnumber us, and I have no idea what they're capable of, but we should still have the advantage with the traps.' Sakura was at his side with a kunai at the ready when she heard Shikamaru whistle again.

'Ah now I see.' thought Dosu as they got a closer look at the area between them and the leaf-nin. 'He chased away the squirrels to avoid them setting off their traps.' He held up his arm to tell his teammates to wait. "Excuse us, we need you to wake Sasuke so we can face him, do that and we'll leave the rest of your team alone." He lied.

Sakura noticed they had Oto headbands, same as the strange man who'd called himself Orochimaru. "What do you want with Sasuke? Does this have something to do with the mark that Orochimaru put on him?" Shikamaru and Sakura noticed the shocked look on their faces and seemed to stop in their tracks.

"What in the world is Orochimaru thinking giving him the Curse Mark?" Said Dosu quietly.

"What does it matter, we have a mission, I say we just fucking kill them all, besides I can't just leave this be after hearing that." Said Zaku.

"Hear that girly, we're going to take care of you and then finish off your little boyfriend." taunted Kin.

The three Oto-nin started approaching avoiding the obvious trap in the center of the clearing, that's when Sakura and Shikamaru cut two wires that released barrage of kunai from both sides, forcing them to retreat or be killed. Just as they hopped backwards, Shikamaru tossed his kunai in their direction. Thinking that he just had terrible aim none of the Oto-nin saw a reason to stop it as it sailed past Zaku's shoulder and into a tree behind him. "Ha, what the hell were you aiming for!" He called out as he leveled his arms forward and prepared an air blast. Suddenly their was a loud sound behind them and they turned to see the large trunk of a tree swinging down directly at them. "Seriously, how fucking pathetic." He was about to blast it and face the Konoha-nin but suddenly he couldn't move at all and his arms moved above his head in a strange position. "What the hell!?" He glanced out of the corner of his eyes and saw that Dosu and Kin were in the same awkward pose.

"Shadow Possession successful." Honestly he his plan had gone better than expected. They avoided the obvious trap on the ground, and he positioned them right in front of the trap behind them forcing them to turn around and become easy prey for his shadow. It was a good thing he didn't have to hold them for long because he was still exhausted from yesterday. Just before the large trunk hit them, he released his technique and they were all struck throwing them into the center of the clearing where the obvious trap lay waiting. A large chain net rose out of the ground and ensnared all three of them, suspending them in air.

Kin was unconscious, but Zaku and Dosu we still able to move despite have suffered some serious injuries. Clearly they underestimated these two, but as long as they were alive they still had a chance.

"Look just give up, hand over your scroll, and we'll leave, otherwise I'll be forced to turn you into human pincushions." Said Shikamaru holding a kunai to another wire. This one was the bluff though, He and Sakura had used up everything they had to set this up, and hopefully they wouldn't get discovered by another team before Sasuke and Chouji woke up, or they would be out of luck.

"Hmph I'll give you this, you got us good, but the real fight starts now. Do it Zaku." He could feel that he had a broken rib or two, but nothing so serious that he couldn't keep going, and Zaku seemed in a similar condition.

Not wasting time, Zaku aimed his hands upward, "**Zankuha!**" he fired an air blast at the branch suspending the net and shattered it freeing them from the chain net.

"This isn't over yet. Zaku take the girl, I have this one." He said as they split up and charged Sakura nad Shikamaru from opposite directions.

"Prepare to die bitch." He leveled out his arms again and readied another Zankuha, but a flash of green out of nowhere sent him tumbling head over heels across the ground almost into Dosu who jumped back just before being bowled over by his teammate.

"**Leaf Hurricane!**" cried Rock Lee as he kicked the spiky haired Oto-nin before he could harm the beautiful Sakura.

"Who is the world are you?" Asked Sakura. Shikamaru would have asked too but he was just glad someone who showed up had helped them.

"Fear not Sakura, though we have not met formally, I have admired you from afar. I, Rock Lee, will not allow you to come to harm." Said the strange boy with a bowl cut, large eyebrows, wearing a green jumpsuit, and a squirrel on his shoulder. "Though if you want to give thanks, you should thank this little one," he said lowering the squirrel to the ground so it could run off. "I noticed a paper bomb on his back, and came to investigate." Both Sakura and Shikamaru sighed in relief, he didn't seem to be lying and he was wearing a Konoha headband around his waist.

Dosu cursed their luck, now the numbers were against them, however the pink haired girl and pineapple haired boy still seemed to be running on fumes, so perhaps they still had a chance. He quickly made an assessment of the area to make sure they weren't surrounded by this newcomer's team, and once he was confident that they weren't he faced said boy with a sneer behind his bandaged face. "It seems like you came alone, that was a mistake on your part. It won't take much to deal with the three of you and eliminate Sasuke. Hurry up Zaku."

"Yeah yeah, shut the hell up. Damn that hurt." Zaku said getting up, shaking his head. "I'm gonna pay you back for that ten fold, brow boy." he said glaring at Rock Lee while cracking his knuckles.

"We shall see!" shot back Lee. 'I'm sorry Guy sensei, I may have to use 'that' technique' he thought, unwrapping the bandages on his arm. "Come at me if you dare." he said taking his fighting pose.

'Damn this is troublesome.' Thought Shikamaru. Both he and Sakura had maybe a kunai each, and little to no chakra, he could attempt to catch one of the Oto-nin with his shadow, but it would use up any chakra he had left. So they were basically relying on the weirdo that showed up out of nowhere.

'What is with that hair and those eyebrows.' Thought Sakura critically, but she shook her head. 'Well whatever I'm just glad he showed up when he did.'

Rock Lee noticed Sakura watching him and mistook the disbelieving look on her face for admiration 'Yes! I can tell she thinks I'm cool.' He thought looking at his enemies once more and preparing for their advance.

Dosu charged as a feint to get the boy to dodge so that Zaku would have a clear shot with his Zankuha, but as he charged his gauntlets for his attack the green suited boy pulled up a large root from the tree behind him to block the attack and the powered sound wave he unleashed causing significant damage to the root. 'Does he know how I attack? No that's impossible.' He thought as he backed off.

Lee now had cover from a ranged attack and managed to block the weird attack that the bandaged shinobi had used. 'He should not have been able to cause that much damage with just his strength alone, there must be some trick to his attack.' Lee thought. 'Oh well it doesn't matter, I will deal with him first since I've already seen how the other one attacks.'

Both Shikamaru and Sakura were too focused on the fight in front of them to notice that Sasuke was slowly beginning to stir as a dark aura surrounded him.

Rock Lee vanished from Zaku and Dosu's sight. "What the hell!?" shouted Zaku

'Where did he go? No way is he that fast!' Thought Dosu as Lee appeared right in front of him and kicked him into the air. Lee jumped into the air after him and shadowed his movement though the air.

"Dancing Leaf Shadow." Said Lee as his bandages began wrapping around Dosu and then his arms and legs. As they began their decent to the ground Lee started spinning rapidly. "**Hidden Primary Lotus.**"

Zaku saw that he was about to slam Dosu head first into the ground and quickly reacted by firing his Zankuha through the ground to soften it as much as possible.

Lee jumped away just as he was nearing the ground, this was the initial stage to opening the Eight Inner Gates, now he just needed to hold off the second Oto-nin until his body was ready to open them. But he looked horrified as the mummy looking man pulled his head out of the ground and dusted himself off, seemingly unharmed.

"That was a truly terrifying technique. You would have killed me if it hadn't been for Zaku there." he said motioning to the other Oto-nin with his hands in the ground. "It seems like that took something out of you though." he said looking over the exhausted Lee. "Zaku take care of the weaklings, I'll finish off this one."

"Sheesh you' better not screw up, I'm not saving your ass again." replied Zaku as he faced Saukra and Shikamaru once more.

'Oh crap.' thought Shikamaru. He prepared his hand sign and hopefully he could grab this guy before he got blasted by that ability of his. Just as he was about to send his shadow out and the Oto-nin aimed his hands at them, and blur shot out past him and Sakura positioning itself behind their assailant.

Dosu turned away from the kneeling Lee to see that Zaku had been rapidly subdued by Sasuke who had his teammate on the ground in front of him with his arms behind his back and a foot on his back applying pressure. But that wasn't the first thing he noticed, the first thing he noticed was the killing intent that had suddenly filled the area, and then the markings covering the Uchiha boy's face. 'So it's true, Orochimaru did give him the curse mark. But why order us to kill him then, what are you thinking master? Were we just being used?' He didn't have much time to process as Zaku cried out in pain after having his arms forcefully pulled from their sockets with a sickening sound.

Sasuke let the weakling in front of him fall to the ground crying in pain. The energy flowing through his body was unimaginable, he felt like he could do anything. He turned to face the weird looking Oto-nin covered in bandages. "Did you attack my team?"

Dosu could hear the malice in Sasuke's voice. Now things were completely out of hand, Kin was unconscious, Zaku couldn't fight in his condition, and he outnumbered as well as probably outmatched by this new arrival. Dosu decided it was best to attempt a strategic withdrawal, and pulled out the Earth scroll he was carrying. "Allow me and my teammates to leave and the scroll is yours." He said holding it out in front of him.

Sasuke sneered, "Why bother negotiating, when I can just kill you and take it." he replied preparing to attack. Just as he was about to charge the stunned shinobi, he felt someone grab him from behind.

"That's enough Sasuke, please stop." Sakura pleaded, tears running down her face. What she had witnessed him do was brutal, but what scared her even more was the look on his face, it was almost exactly like the look that was on Orochimaru's face. Like he was toying with his prey to make sure they felt true despair before finally killing them. 'This isn't you Sasuke!' she thought desperately.

Shikamaru hadn't let his hand sign drop, he was sweating pretty bad. He was sure that Sakura was in serious danger pulling that move, but let out a held in breath when the marks on Sasuke's face began to recede to his neck. He didn't realize just how tense he'd been when his muscles relaxed, he collapsed to his knees.

"Leave the scroll and get out of here before I change my mind." Said Sasuke.

Dosu didn't look a gift horse in the mouth, he dropped the scroll and gathered his teammates. "We'll be seeing you in the next stage of the exam, we'll settle things then." he said before heading into the forest. 'Did you send us after Sasuke just to test him? I'm not going to forgive being used like this, but it's not like I can do much about it now.' he thought to himself.

Sakura couldn't help crying against Sasuke's back, she was so glad that the terrifying look was gone from his face as well as being glad that he was okay. "Sakura, you're heavy." said Sasuke. She then realized they were both kneeling and she was leaning heavily on his back.

Kabuto watched from a safe distance with a very satisfied smile on his face. 'Seems little Sasuke survived the Curse Mark Seal. Lord Orochimaru will be very pleased by this development. I wish I could get closer and collect some more detailed information, but this should do for now.' He then left to return to his team who were waiting for him near the tower.

OoO

Ino collapsed onto the soft grass beneath her. She and Naruto had been sparring most of the morning and she realized very fast that she was no match for her fellow blond in taijutsu. Even though they had been at this almost constantly he seemed barely winded and she was completely exhausted. "Geez Naruto, where do you get all that energy?" she asked breathing heavily.

Naruto smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I don't know, but Sakura's always saying the same thing, yaknow." He had avoided using shadow clones to keep things fair, but he still didn't have much trouble overpowering her.

"Well it's definitely annoying. I can't keep up with you! Even if I get better at taijutsu, you'd outlast me. Speaking of which are you even getting anything out of this sparring? I mean it feels like you're already pretty good at this." She hated to admit that she was so far behind him, and her past self would have tried convincing herself that it was just a fluke from the flunky.

"Eh it's okay, I still need to keep my skills sharp." He replied.

Eika had been watching the two young teens spar all morning. It was obvious that the boy wasn't going to get much out of it, but he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless, he seemed to have a permanent smile plastered on his face. 'He certainly has a lot of stamina.' she thought to herself. The girl was not as skilled in taijutsu and had to rest a couple times, but there were more to fights between ninja than those two aspects so this spar wasn't exactly conclusive, but it would help her in the long run. She decided now was a good time to make her presence known seeing as they were taking a break.

Ino and Naruto stood on guard as a woman entered the clearing they had been sparring in. She had fair pale skin, long dark hair that was wrapped loosely at the end, she stood about a foot and a half above them, wearing a plain light-brown kimono with black edges. She smiled sweetly at the two stopping not far away from them. "Hello there, I couldn't help but notice you sparring over here. I was wondering what two young ninja are doing here alone." she tried to be as non threatening as possible.

Naruto felt a strong sense of deja vu, something about this woman really looked familiar, especially her face. "We were just training." he replied keeping the smile on his face, she didn't seem to want to cause them harm.

Ino resisted the urge to elbow her companion for dropping his guard so easily around an unknown person. But she did have to admit this woman seemed kind enough, and if she had been one of the trackers that had been chasing them Naruto wouldn't have reacted this calmly of course there was no denying the possibility that they were using the transformation technique like they were.

"Really? It looked to me like you were beating up on a girl." Eika giggled at the flustered look on the young boy's face.

"It's not like that at all, yaknow. We were sparring, I told her to tell me to stop when she needed a break, yaknow." replied Naruto embarrassed.

Ino couldn't help giggling too at Naruto being teased by the strange but beautiful woman. "Yeah, geez Naruto didn't anybody ever tell you not to hit girls" She said joining in on making her friend uncomfortable.

Naruto's blush was obvious now, but he tried to conceal it behind anger. "Hey you're the one who wanted to keep going!" said Naruto scowling.

Eika and Ino both laughed at Naruto's reaction. Once they were finished laughing, Eika returned to her previous inquiry, "So are you two on a mission or something? You're clearly ninja, but you don't seem to be wearing a village headband."

Naruto had to resist the impulse to correct her, as he almost forgot they had removed them to remain inconspicuous. "Um, yeah...we're on a mission...a training mission." Naruto tried to think up a believable lie.

Ino sweatdropped, clearly Naruto needed to work on his deception skills, however she nodded in agreement to his statement. "We can't really discuss it, but we were told to train while we're here." supplied Ino.

Eika nodded, clearly they were keeping the situation to themselves which was understandable, a ninja was to always practice discretion. "I see, so you're trying to get stronger? I saw you the other day tree climbing, maybe I could give you some advice? My name is Eika, it's a pleasure to meet you." She wasn't certain but she figured these two were from Konoha.

"Huh, are you a ninja too lady?" asked Naruto.

"Please call me Eika, and I guess you could say, I used to be a ninja." Eika replied smiling sadly, noticed by both Ino and Naruto.

However Naruto was quite excited at the prospect of getting some pointers. "I see, okay Eika. What kind of advice do you have?" asked Naruto. Ino was also eager to hear what she had to say if it would help her progress.

"First do you mind if I ask your names?" Eika asked politely. "It's rude not to introduce yourselves when I have already done so."

Naruto and Ino blushed lightly, forgetting their manners. "I'm Minato." said Naruto.

"And I'm Kurenai." said Ino thinking of the kunoichi her sensei seemed to spend so much time with.

"Ah, well it's nice to meet you Minato and Kurenai." replied Eika. She already knew their real names having heard them use them yesterday, but decided not to call them on it. It was part of a ninja's training after all. She thought she was going to abandon the ninja world for the remainder of her life, but after hearing them talk yesterday she couldn't help but be curious about this Naruto boy. "Well I was wondering if you'd like to learn how to walk on water seeing as it's very similar to the tree walking exercise."

Both Ino and Naruto's eyes lit up. "Yes please." they said in unison.

Eika smiled at the young duo. "Okay, come with me to the river." she said walking back into the valley.

OoO

**Another chapter down. For anyone that is curious about things that I don't cover such as Anko's confrontation with Orochimaru, or the other teams in the forest, for the most part those events will follow canon, (so I don't really feel the need to write them) if I miss something that would keep an event from being canon, please let me know I'll see what I can do to make it a more complete story. So Naruto Shippuden has reached it's conclusion, and shall be sorely missed. I've heard rumors that the mangaka is going to have a story for after shippuden, but I haven't seen anything conclusive, though I do hope it's true. If you still don't know who the mystery woman is here is a hint: Yes she was in both the anime and the manga, and Yes I'm using a name I created for her. Her true identity will be revealed next chapter. One last thing, I would like to say that I'm going to write throughout the week and update every Fri/Sat but can't promise anything, I'm a single dad after all.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Anyone else think Himawari Uzumaki is adorable? Hey here's a good question for you all, what do you think the names of NaruIno's children should be? I will be accepting one boys name and one girls name (They will at least have that many kids, but I may include more haven't decided yet) Obviously this is far into the future, like for my epilogue chapter but hey I think it's neat to get your input for things like this. The last guesses were Mikoto U. and Hanare both very good guesses but no cigar (Mikoto is dead, but Hanare does have a strong resemblance to the person I chose) As always thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them.**

**OoO**

Chouji woke not long after Sasuke, and Rock Lee's team members, Tenten and Neji had come for him. After Rock Lee and his team left, Team 17 decided it was best to make their way to the tower before they could be ambushed again. Shikamaru thought it best to disband their previous structure and stick closer together seeing as everyone was severely weakened. Sasuke was leading with Sakura not far behind followed by Shikamaru and Chouji. Shikamaru had kept a close eye on Sasuke since his episode in the clearing with the Oto-nin. It was nearing the end of the second day, and they would hopefully reach the tower by nightfall and be allowed to finally get some decent rest.

Chouji was keeping pace next to Shikamaru, he was clueless to what had transpired while he was unconscious. He had woken to a shaken looking Shikamaru, a crying Sakura hugging Sasuke, and another Konoha ninja wearing a green jumpsuit who seemed exhausted, but not too injured. He had asked Shikamaru what happened but just received a silent shake of the head in response, meaning he would tell him later. He decided now was a good time to get caught up. "So what happened back there?" he asked quietly so that Sakura and Sasuke couldn't hear him.

"While you were out, so was Sasuke. We got ambushed by the team from Otogakure, and things were looking troublesome, then Rock Lee showed up to help. Unfortunately Sakura and I were too exhausted to fight and he must have pulled a risky move cause he was barely able to stand after. Just when they were going in for the kill, Sasuke woke up and nearly took apart one at the arms. It was...not pleasant, and the look on his face, it reminded me of that Kusa-nin. You went down before this but it was apparently someone in disguise. He said his name was Orochimaru, that's the name of one of the Sanin. At the time I thought it had to be a bluff or something, but now I'm not so sure. He bit Sasuke and now there's a strange mark on his neck. When he woke up back there, markings were spread from his neck all over his face, and I couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to kill anyone that got in his way." recounted Shikamaru keeping his voice low as well. "It's such a drag...we should have stayed out of this." That sinister feeling around Sasuke was gone, but he wasn't about to drop his guard around the Uchiha just yet.

Chouji had heard similar statements from Shikamaru in the past but this time it seemed different, he didn't sound like he was being lazy. He just nodded in response, there was no point in asking more. They would just have to hope Sasuke would keep it together.

Sakura was also keeping a silent watch over Sasuke. The mark on his neck wasn't visible, but every once in a while he would grip it tightly with a strained look on his face. She thought about asking everyone if they could take a break, but she knew their best bet was to make it to the tower soon so that they didn't end up fighting anyone else. The silence was bugging her more than anything, so much so that she wished Naruto was there, he would have fought with Sasuke or tried to cheer her up.

The sun had just set when they arrived at the tower, and still remaining silent, entered their designated door.

OoO

Eika watched as Naruto and Ino practiced the water walking technique, both were getting it very quickly after having it explained and shown to them. She smiled at the competition between the two. The life of a ninja was a harsh one, one that no child should have to bare, yet they seemed happy. It made her wonder if she had made the right choice to leave the ninja world behind. In her land, bloodlines such as hers had been considered too dangerous to be allowed to exist, so she had fled; become the wife of a farmer, and gave birth to a boy, knowing that he would likely be born with those same abilities. She should have left with her son when she was sure, to another village, or perhaps just further away from her homeland. Watching these two, hearing how her son had grown, how he had been happy in finding someone who needed him; She wasn't sure how she felt yet. On the one had she wanted to be angry with Naruto, he was part of the reason the search for her son had come to an end in the Land of Waves not long ago. On the other she couldn't help liking the boy who had said he could have been friends with her son, he even wished things could have been different. It wasn't his fault that Haku was dead, and he seemed very affected by his encounter with him. Her son was gone, but part of him remained in Naruto and to know he had found happiness in a life of hell, it was a strange reassurance. In Naruto and Ino she could see an opportunity to stop running and have a purpose, just as Haku had in Zabuza.

As night approached Eika joined them on the river. They had mastered the technique and had begun a sparring session to get used to the feeling of fighting while keeping a constant chakra flow directed to their feet. "You two did well." She said with a smile.

Ino bowed "Thank you Eika."

Naruto was smiling broadly. "Yeah thanks." He was happy to have learned something so cool. 'I bet Sasuke can't walk on water' He thought, hoping he'd get the chance to show off to his rival.

She wasn't sure why, but it seemed to Eika, that these two were hiding out here. And as long as they were, she decided she would help them out. "You're welcome, and if you'd like, I wouldn't mind teaching you more. If your mission is to train while you're here, I'd like to help if that's okay?"

"Really?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

Ino was surprised as well, she wanted very much to learn more and get stronger, but couldn't help being a little suspicious. Shinobi did not often train those they weren't associated with by clan or village, so an offer like this seemed too good to be true. "Do you mind if I ask why?" she queried.

A somber look came over Eika as she answered the young kunoichi. "Because I feel like I was meant to meet you both for a reason. I'm not sure myself yet, but I don't want to just leave you on your own."

Ino and Naruto looked at each other, before turning back to Eika. "Please train us Eika-sensei." they said in unison. It wasn't a difficult choice, they were told to train, and neither was sure how to progress on their own. Ino was still a bit suspicious, but better to learn what Eika had to teach if she was their potential enemy. Even if she wasn't, it was possible that the trackers were still looking for them.

'Haku, would you be happy right now I wonder?' She thought to herself looking down at her new students. "Very well, we will start tomorrow. Let's meet at the same place in the forest as before. Sleep well." she waved as they left towards town.

"See you tomorrow" they replied back. Once they were back inside Natsui, Ino turned towards Naruto. "So do you think we can trust her?" Eika seemed kind and caring, but she was a ninja, so there was no telling if she really meant them no harm. Naruto kept his eyes on where they were going but a serious look came on to his face which almost seemed out of place on him. "We may be using transformation and fakes names, but she could be too in order to get close to us."

"I think we can trust her. If she knows who we are, it's not like we can do anything about it. Besides I want to trust her, and that's good enough for me." He said the last part with the same confident smile he always had.

"Geez you're too easy going. But I guess I can't argue, I feel the same way." There was something about the woman that reminded her of her mother, she couldn't dislike her.

"Oh man I'm starving, want to get something to eat?" Asked Naruto.

The moment he brought it up, Ino could feel her stomach growl. "Sounds good to me. What did you have in mind?"

"I really could go for some Ichiraku Ramen, but I suppose I'll have to settle for whatever they have here." Naruto replied a little sullenly.

'If ramen is all he eats, it's no wonder he hasn't grown.' Ino thought with a smile. "Okay ramen it is." Though it was night, the town was still bustling, road side merchants peddling their wares, stores still open for business, there was a different feel here than in Konoha, but it wasn't unpleasant. They didn't have to search long until they found a ramen stall called Oishi Ramen.

It was tiny, but inside a wonderful aroma filled the air and many seats were already occupied. Ino and Naruto took two of the last few open seats and waited for the chef to address them. He was an older man wearing an apron and a cap over a mostly bald, head. He had a long, gray braided ponytail and long gray beard that he had tossed over his shoulder as he cooked. He took a moment away from his pot to take the order of the two children that just entered. "Welcome to Oishi Ramen, I'm Kohito. What can I getya youngsters?"

Naruto spoke up first. "Two miso flavored ramens with extra pork." Even though it wasn't Ichiraku, he was still eager to get his normal order.

"I'll have a miso flavored ramen, and a cherry tomato." Ino gave her order.

The old man took the money Naruto put on the counter and gave a quick nod before turning back to work. "Coming right up."

It wasn't long before they got their ramen. Naruto wasn't disappointed, this ramen didn't taste the same as Ichiraku, but it certainly wasn't bad. After they finished their meal, they decided to head back to the inn they were staying at to get some sleep in preparation for their training tomorrow.

OoO

Kakashi stood among a small group of friends and family of Inoichi for his daughters funeral service. He couldn't tell people that she wasn't dead without the possibility of tipping off anyone who might be tailing him. He was fairly confident that he wasn't being tailed, but best not leave things to chance. Though he couldn't 'say' anything to Inoichi, Kakashi knew the Yamanaka was skilled at reading minds, and planned to use this to alert him to his daughters 'safety.' The ceremony was short, with a speech from Ino's mother and Inoichi, along with a flower procession, and burning of incense. The silver haired Jounin felt a pang of sorrow for Naruto, even though he wasn't really dead, no such service had been held for him. Rather he'd heard words of relief from many of the villagers and even some of the shinobi.

Once most of the visitors had paid their respects, Kakashi caught up with Inoichi. "Sorry for your loss." said Kakashi and he griped the blond man's shoulder.

"Sorry for yours as well." Inoichi returned, a solemn look on his face. "I hadn't met your student but I knew of his reputation."

Kakashi gave a small smile behind his mask. "Yes he was definitely a wild card, but he was making great strides towards becoming an excellent shinobi."

"I see, all the more a pity that he couldn't reach his full potential. Thank you for coming."

"It's nothing." Kakashi held out his hand for Inoichi to take. On Kakashi's palm was a small charcoal kanji for 'alive' in reverse, he'd put it there as his signal, and kept it hidden throughout the service. Inoichi took Kakashi's hand in a firm grip. "I know it may not be the best time, but how about getting a drink with me? We can toast those we've lost." asked Kakashi while his hand was still locked with the other Jounin.

"Sorry maybe some other time." replied Inoichi.

"Yeah okay, I understand. Well if you change your mind, I'll be at the small bar down the street."

As Kakashi left, Inoichi glanced at his hand. It had felt like Kakashi was trying to keep a grip on him for longer than would have been necessary, and upon inspection he discovered why. Just beneath his index finger was a small charcoal copy of what must have been on Kakashi's hand; the kanji for 'alive.' Inoichi did his best to mask his emotions, he desperately wanted to chase after Kakashi and find out what the man knew or meant, but clearly he'd kept this covert for a reason, so Inoichi would follow suit. He inconspicuously wiped his palm clean on his dark kimono and waited until the rest of his guests finished paying respects.

OoO

Kakashi sipped some sake and waited patiently until he felt a presence sit next to him. "Change your mind?" He asked without looking.

"Yes, I decided I needed something to take my mind off this." Inoichi replied, ordering a glass of sake. 'You better not be pulling my leg Kakashi.' he thought to himself.

"On the contrary, I think we should always keep our thoughts on those who are no longer with us, and remember them fondly." replied Kakashi as he tapped his temple three times in hopes that Inoichi would get the hidden meaning.

"Ah I see your point." said Inoichi as he picked up Kakashi's signal and began using the Yamanaka's secret technique for reading minds. This would be difficult to keep up a conversation, but obviously that was Kakashi's intent.

'_Can you hear my thoughts?' _asked Kakashi. "Here's to the young, who passed on to soon." He said holding up his sake cup.

Inoichi toasted with him and took a sip. '_Yes, now what did your message mean?' _"I remember when Ino first joined the academy, she was so happy. She'd talk about it everyday."

_'I'll be brief, Ino and Naruto are alive, I'm certain. I can't go into full detail, but whatever is going on involves Shimura Danzo and one of the Hokage's ANBU, named Fuu. I'm fairly sure I got them out of the village, but I have no memory of it for some reason, so I don't know where they are.' _"Naruto was the same way when he made Genin. Always begging for tougher missions." replied Kakashi.

Inoichi hid his hopes well. All this seemed too good to be true, but Kakashi wouldn't have gone to these measures just to deceive him. Unfortunately him taking these precautions also meant he wasn't likely to get much more info than he needed, which was alright by him, as long as he knew his daughter was okay for the time being, that was more than enough. He would have liked to dig deeper into Kakshi's psyche to find out why he was missing some of his memories, but that would have to wait. _'What can I do to help?' _Inoichi would put his faith in Kakashi. "Hahaha yeah seems like all Genin are eager for action these days."

_'They're still in danger, but I'm going to track them with my hounds after the second round of the Chunin exams. I'm sure I took precautions so that it wouldn't be easy to track them, but I WILL find them. In the meantime, I need you to find out who this Fuu is, and see what he knows without being detected. He wears a bird mask.' _"Yeah, they grow up so fast."

Inoichi nodded in response and ended his mental link. They continued to banter late into the night, until Kakashi excused himself and they went their separate ways.

OoO

Kabuto waited near the tower, inside the Forest of Death. He was waiting for two things one; his teammates who he charged with getting the scroll they needed and two; his master, Orochimaru. A small smile came to his face as the latter appeared next to him without a sound. "What took you? I have some fascinating info for you. It appears little Sasuke survived you putting the curse mark on him. Better yet, he seems to take to the power quite well."

Orochimaru smiled. "Sorry, I was enjoying a long over due reunion. As for Sasuke, I knew that he would. I witnessed the power in his eyes first hand, they are truly magnificent. The sublime Sharingan will soon be within my grasp." replied the snake Sanin.

"Unfortunately I didn't gather much data while the curse mark was active, but what I do have is in here." said Kabuto as he tossed a ninja info-card to Orochimaru.

"Are you sure you want to be giving me this?" asked the Sanin humorously.

"What do you mean?" asked Kabuto.

"I mean, if you want to eliminate dear Sasuke, now is your opportunity." Orochimaru said coyly.

The thought had crossed Kabuto's mind a few times. Kabuto wanted the honor of being his master's new body, but he finally decided that he would make his master's desires his own. "I have no idea what you're talking about." said Kabuto shrugging and playing dumb.

"Fufufu, well keep an eye on dear Sasuke for me, he is my future." Orochimaru enjoyed toying with the bespectacled teen. He then vanished, leaving his subordinate behind.

'I've already made up my mind, Lord Orochimaru.' Kabuto thought to himself with a sinister smile.

OoO

Sasuke sat on his small bed gripping his neck. The strange mark was still burning like fire and had intensified a couple moments before he'd almost gone to sleep. He scanned the resting room, apart from team '17,' there was one other team who had finished before them; the team from Sunagakure. Two of their members lay resting in beds, while the third was nowhere to be seen. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sakura were also getting much needed sleep. He didn't want anyone to see him in this state, so he was glad everyone was still alseep.

The scrolls had turned out to be a summoning, that summoned Asuma, who told them that they had passed the second round of the Chunin exams and a spiel about working on your weaknesses that Sasuke all but ignored. The only thing on Sasuke's mind was getting stronger, until he had no weaknesses, so the lecture was pointless.

Just as the pain began to subside and he laid back down, a strong killing intent surrounded him. His body reacted swiftly, pulling a kunai and looking for the threat. His eyes scanned the room once more and there on the ceiling above his bed was the third Suna-nin; a short, red haired boy with a large gourd strapped to his back. Even in the low light, Sasuke could see the dark look in his eyes, a look that screamed murder.

"You...what is your name?" He spoke quietly.

Sasuke didn't drop his guard. "Sasuke Uchiha, and you are?" Whoever this was, he definitely felt the strength about him.

"Gaara of the Sand. You have the same eyes...eyes that hate...eyes that want to kill." Said Gaara, malice filling his voice.

"What do you know?" spat Sasuke.

Sand burst forth from the gourd and began swirling around him. How he wanted to fight this one...it was making his blood boil. "I will fight you, and we will see who's hate is stronger. Mine or yours? The winner gets proof of his existence and the loser dies!" Before Sasuke could respond Gaara vanished in the swirling sand. 'Soon mother, soon I will give you strong blood.' He stood upon the roof of the tower, looking at the moon, forcing back his restlessness.

Sasuke was once again the only conscious one in the room, Gaara's words echoing in his head. Sweat beading on his brow as it brought back the memories of his brother. _'Your hate is not strong enough little brother.'_

If he was going to kill his brother, this was the first hurdle that he would have to clear. Despite the dull pain in his neck and threat on his life a smile crept onto his face. 'I will get stronger, and then I'm coming for you, Itachi.'

OoO

Naruto sat on his bed looking over at the occupant of the next bed. He tried to fall asleep, but concern for his friend kept him up. He knew a thing or two about nightmares, and he was sure that Ino would be having them for a while to come and he wanted to be able to wake her as soon as possible. For now she was sleeping peacefully, but he was sure she would be having another nightmare, like a gut feeling. The moonlight entering through the window gave her fair face a serene glow. Naruto could feel his heart start beating faster as he continued to watch her. 'She is really pretty.' he thought to himself.

"**I thought you only had eyes for that pink haired girl." **came the Nine-tails voice in his head.

Naruto blushed and was glad Ino was sleeping. 'I don't...I mean I did...damn it, why are you talking to me now, yaknow?'

"**No reason other than I'm bored. So what is this girl to you?" **questioned the Nine-tails.

'Ino? She's my friend, I guess. Why?' replied a confused Naruto.

"**Is that all? Stupid boy, I think you're developing feelings for her."**

Naruto blushed once again. 'No, Ino is just my friend, that's all. The one I like is...Sakura.' Even as he thought this he began to wonder if it was true. He did like Sakura, but did he really like her that way still? He wasn't sure. 'Anyway, Ino is just my friend.'

"**Tch, say what you will. Stup.." **

'Why do you keep calling me 'stupid boy?!' I have a name, yaknow. I'm Naruto Uzumaki!' Naruto was starting to get sick of the Nine-tails belittling him.

"**...Fine then, Naruto. You should look at your 'friend,' she's beginning to stir."**

Naruto did as the Nine-tails said and found it to be true. Ino's face was beginning to contort in her sleep and slight whimpers escaped her lips. Naruto didn't have to wonder what she was seeing behind her closed eyes, the pain and fear was becoming evident on her face. He quickly left his bed and rushed to her side gently rousing her awake. "Ino, it's okay, come on, wake up." He didn't think to deeply about why, but he knew he never wanted to see Ino in pain.

OoO

**So I'm hoping I made it glaringly obvious who will be their teacher. I have some interesting ideas for it, and maybe you'll see it coming, I don't know. I do hope it's not a commonly used idea in fics, so that my version of the Naruniverse is unique. As always I appreciate all reviews, please help me make a better story for you. If you haven't seen Big Hero 6 yet...GO SEE IT NOW! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Come on guys shoot me some names for NaruIno's kids. I have two so far, and if you think of more please feel free to tell me, just because I'm only picking out one boys name and one girls name doesn't mean you only have to suggest one of each. Something I feel like I should mention; Yes Fuu is related to Inoichi, and yes he would have recognized the name of a relative, I'm using Fuu as an assigned name (whether it's his real name or not.) Very glad I'm averaging ten reviews per chapter now, thanks to all of you. (followers and reviewers)**

**To Guest- Yes I haven't gotten to that part yet, but what I put in the description will come to pass, Ino just hasn't had any major male interactions yet. As for lemons...I'm not sure yet, I have given it thought, but still haven't decided. If I do include such I will probably ask for a fan to write it, and do some editing to it (not censoring) as I'm not skilled at writing lemons.**

**To LordHero- Yeah I realize I haven't deviated much from canon yet, but it will be a chain reaction when it does, obviously a lot of things change just from Naruto not being in the village during the Chunin exams.**

**To jayley- Thank you, that's definitely what I was going for! Like I said I would have been surprised if anyone would have guessed, though I suppose I could have given a better description or something. Having her alive and as a teacher was what actually sparked the entire idea for this fic, though originally I was going to make it NaruHina (Obviously I changed it, and in my opinion, for the better.)**

OoO

Koga walked the dark streets of Tanzaku Town with his hound, Kuro, a large white dog with wolfish features. One of the trails they had found ended here, and it was the one they deemed most likely, not because it ended in a town, but because it ended at a bath house. Once they cleaned themselves of the scent masker, they would have smelled the same as everyone who used the complimentary soaps. He would have followed all of those trails, but by now their scents would have faded. They needed some new clue or reference scent, so he and Kuro were charged with finding it. Hishin was charged with inspecting the entire town with his Byakugan; while it was unlikely, they needed to be certain that their targets weren't here. Since Torune's bugs weren't specialized for tracking, he was standing by in the woods making sure they weren't being followed themselves.

"Grr Koga, I found something." Said Kuro, sniffing at a dumpster. "It smells like the scent masker."

"Alright good job, Kuro, man." Said Koga as he flipped the dumpster lid open and started digging around till he found the source of the scent. Two sets of clothes, clearly belonging to their targets, were among the trash. He pulled them out and examined them. It wasn't possible to follow them though the scent masker anymore but perhaps there was something else they could use. "I think I got something." Said Koga as he turned the boys coat pockets inside out. Inside one of the pockets was a coupon for a ramen stand.

Kuro came up and sniffed it. "Ah yeah, it's got his scent on it. Seal it so it doesn't weaken."

Koga did just that, sealing their clue inside a scroll. While it wasn't a trail, it was certainly a reference point, as a persons natural scent changed very little without the aid of perfumes, maskers, and the like. Unfortunately that was they only thing they found. "Go tell Torune, I'll meet up with Hishin."

"Got it." and with that Kuro vanished in the direction of the woods.

OoO

The morning sun shown through the forest on the horizon, giving the trees long shadows. Eika was already waiting as Naruto and Ino approached, both looking eager. She smiled at their enthusiasm and waved.

"So what are you going to teach us Eika-sensei." Asked Naruto nearly jumping up and down.

"Well now that you have a better grasp on controlling chakra, I was going to check your chakra affinities, and that will open the door to learning more jutsus. Do you both know what I'm talking about?" Ino was nodding, but Naruto looked clueless. "Ok Minato, there are five basic chakra affinities; Fire, water, earth, lightening, and wind. Generally you wouldn't be taught nature manipulation until you were closer to Chunin rank, but I feel you both can handle it. Kurenai, you have very good chakra control and Minato, you have a vast amount of chakra, so I don't think we have to worry about you accidentally exhausting all your chakra." Both listened eagerly as she continued. "Normally you'd have specialized paper to focus chakra into, that would tell you what your strongest affinity is, but I'm a sensor type. I can tell what your affinities by placing my hand on your heads."

She motioned for both of them to step forward, and as they did so she placed a hand on both of their heads. A shocked look came across her face as she sensed their chakra. She had sensed Naruto's chakra the first time she had seen him in the woods, so she knew that he already outstripped most Jounin in the amount of chakra he possessed, but with this, it felt like she was looking down a pitch black well, not knowing how deep it went. The strangest thing was that it felt like there were eyes staring back at her from that deep darkness. While that was the main reason she was shocked, she was also shocked that their affinities matched her own; Naruto had a wind nature chakra and Ino had a water nature chakra. 'This is seeming less and less like a coincidence. Maybe we really were fated to meet.' She thought to herself as she removed her hands from their heads.

Ino tensed as she saw the look on Eika's face. 'Can she tell we're using transformations, or maybe she knows who we are?' She spared a glance at Naruto who also seemed to notice.

Eika could sense their suspicion, and smiled. "I'm sorry, I was just a little shocked is all. It seems your chakra affinities are the same as my own. I couldn't have asked for more compatible students." They seemed to relax a little. "Minato, yours is wind, and Kurenai, yours is water."

"So you have both? Is that possible?" Asked Naruto, a little confused.

"Yes and it is, but not everyone has more than one affinity. For example: While Kurenai has a strong affinity for water, she also has a weak affinity for earth. You on the other hand, only have an affinity for wind. Some ninja even have three or more affinities, though you shouldn't use this as a measure of strength." She finished.

"Ah, okay." said Naruto, nodding while not fully understanding. "So will you be teaching us new jutsu?" he asked hopefully.

"Well it's not that simple, first you need to get used to nature manipulation in your chakra, then I'll be able to teach you what I know. What's more is once you know how to do this, you can come up with your own unique jutsu." Eika replied. That elicited an excited look from the younger shinobi. "So today we'll practice some nature manipulation." Eika plucked a leaf from a bush and handed it to Naruto. "For your training, Minato, I want you to use your chakra to cut this leaf." She picked one for herself and gave him a demonstration by placing the whole leaf between both palms for a moment then removing her top hand to reveal a leaf cut in half. "It helps if you can imagine channeling the chakra in your hands in opposite directions against each other." He didn't look like he understood at all, but placed the leaf between his palms and began attempting to cut the leaf with his chakra.

"What about me sensei." asked Ino. She was pretty sure that this kind of training wouldn't work with her affinity.

"For you, Kurenai, we'll need to go down to the river. Will you be okay here, Minato?" Naruto nodded continuing to concentrate on the leaf in his hands. "I'll come back to check on you shortly."

Ino again was a little cautious as she followed Eika out of the forest and towards the river. Instead of remaining silent, she decided to get some information on their teacher. "So, I was wondering, what did you mean when you said you used to be a ninja?"

Eika didn't turn to look at her as she answered. "I left my village when I was just a little older than you are now." She decided it was best to just tell her to foster some trust. "It's better if you don't know where I'm from, but I left because my village decided that member of my clan and other such clans were a nuisance and started exterminating us."

"Why would they do something like that?" Ino asked. She couldn't understand why a village would eliminate it's own shinobi.

"My clan has a kekkei genkai. Suffice it to say there are just as many people who fear and hate those with such power as there are those who covet them."

Ino understood a little better, but it still seemed like an extreme reaction. Kekkei genkai's were powerful in the shinobi world, and she guessed, a sensitive subject to Eika, so she decided to drop it for the time being.

They walked in silence for a while until Eika spoke. "Now do you mind if I ask you something?" she asked, this time looking behind her, waiting as Ino responded with a nod. "Is it alright with you if I use your real names?" She asked looking apologetic as Ino seemed to panic. "I'm sorry, I actually overheard the two of you talking the day before yesterday. Your names are Ino and Naruto, right?"

'Well at least I know she isn't one of the ones after us, or she would have tried something by now.' Ino thought as she calmed down. "Yes, that's fine. Sorry we lied to you." Ino replied giving a nervous smile.

Eika shook her head, "It's alright, you were just being careful, that's understandable. I want you both to trust me if you're going to be my students." She replied, giving a genuine smile.

Ino nodded, also smiling. "Yes Eika-sensei."

They arrived at the river shortly after their conversation and stopped at the bank. "Okay, for your training I want you to place your hands a few inches above the surface of the water," Eika did what she was describing. "and use your chakra to draw the water to your hands." As she said this, some water from the river flowed up to her palms and then engulfed both her hands. "The training I've assigned you both allows you to get a feel for what your chakra nature feels like so that you can draw upon it, even when, in your case, there is no water around. Water style jutsu are far easier to use and require less chakra if you have water around to manipulate." The water around her hands pooled together into a ball between her palms. As she stared at it, a vivid flashback to when Haku first revealed his abilities to her, flashed through her mind and the water splashed back into the river.

"Eika-sensei?" asked Ino concerned, as she saw a pained expression pass over Eika's face.

"Sorry it's nothing. Anyway," she turned to Ino, smiling. "seeing as you don't have nearly the amount of chakra that Naruto has, it's best if you not use water style jutsu away from a body of water until you've built up a larger reserve of chakra."

"How do I do that?" asked Ino, curious. 'I wonder if it just cause Naruto has the Nine-tails, that he has so much chakra.' Ino thought to herself. 'Maybe if he'd had someone to give him one on one time, like a parent, then maybe he'd have been stronger at the academy. He's come so far just under Kakashi, it's hard to imagine how strong he'd be if someone had paid more attention to him sooner.'

"The best way for you to increase the amount of chakra you have is physical training and working on your stamina with the water walking technique. It's not easy, but it's worth it. For now though focus on this training, and we'll work on your chakra reserves later. Also I noticed you have the capacity to be a sensor like me, if you'd like, I can train you in that as well." Ino nodded at her offer. "Okay, first though try manipulating the water."

Ino took a knee at the edge of the water and tried focusing chakra into her palms as Eika had done and attempted to draw the water to her hands. She was surprised when a slight rise in the water appeared, but didn't reach her hands.

"That's good. Keep practicing while I go check on Naruto." Said Eika as she left Ino to her training.

OoO

Naruto stood in the clearing, focusing chakra to his hands, trying to cut the leaf. So far he'd been completely unsuccessful. "Damn this is hard." Eika's explanation didn't make much sense to him, but he figured so long as he kept at it, he'd get it eventually. He'd tried varying amounts of chakra, focusing his chakra in bursts, and even trying to focus chakra into the leaf.

After about half an hour of trying to cut the leaf with his chakra and having no visible affect on it, he remembered what Kakashi had said about using his shadow clones in his training. If he couldn't get it by himself, perhaps between a hundred of him, they could figure it out together. He made the sign with his hand, "**Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.**" and then there were a hundred of the boy in the clearing. They each grabbed a leaf and began trying to cut it with their chakra.

Eika was amazed when she entered the clearing. There were Naruto's everywhere, too many for her to count at a glance. 'These aren't regular clones, they're solid, like water clones!' Each one seemed to be trying to cut a leaf. 'If these clones pass knowledge to the user...he may not have skill, but his potential is near limitless.' "That's a very powerful jutsu you have there."

One of the Naruto clones turned towards her and smiled. "Yeah, it's kind of my specialty."

"I believe it." she replied. 'He's a one man army, and likely one of few shinobi in the world that has enough chakra to use this technique.' She walked to a few of the clones and examined their leaf, so far he'd made no progress, which didn't surprise her, Naruto lacked the precision in chakra control that this exercise would give him. And as long as he used his clones, the time it would take him to learn it should shorten greatly, as would be true with any technique he wanted to learn.

After about fifteen minutes of helping, she was about to go check on Ino, when one of the Naruto's shouted. "Hey, I got something!" the clone rushed to Eika and showed her his leaf, with a small nick in it.

"Yes, very good. Don't worry you'll have this down in no time I'm sure." she praised the beaming Naruto in front of her. 'A wind chakra nature and a water chakra nature...I wonder...maybe I'll see if it's possible.' she thought to herself.

OoO

Ino and Naruto began walking back towards town when the sun had set. Eika had told them both to get some rest, both were making very good progress, though neither had completed the exercise yet. "So she already knew our names?" Naruto asked, as they discussed their new teacher.

"Yeah, but that means we can trust her, at least for now." replied Ino.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm going to head to the bathhouse." said Naruto wanting a relaxing bath after his arduous training.

"Okay. I think I'll just use the shower at the inn." replied Ino. They went separate ways once they entered town, Naruto towards the bathhouse and Ino towards the inn. Just like the past few nights they'd spent here, the town was still teeming with business and traders. Ino went out of her way to avoid alleys or being alone on a street, but with as many people as were still walking around, it wasn't hard to do. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was giving men wide berths when she could.

She was about half way to the inn when she heard a voice call out to her. "Hey! Hey cutie!" She turned and approaching her were two boy about two or three years older than her. She wanted to turn and keep walking but didn't. "We saw you by the barbeque place down the street. I'm Terumaru, and this is my best friend Kaiza. We're heading to a party and we were thinking you might like to come with us. What's your name?" Said the boy named Terumaru. Both boys were wearing rather expensive looking clothes and had on some cheap smelling cologne.

"Kurenai, and I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry." She tried to say as sweetly and apologetically as possible. 'Please just leave me alone.' She thought to herself.

"Aww come on, I'm sure you'll have a good time." said the one named Kaiza as he moved to cut her off in the direction she had been heading.

"Really, I'm busy. Sorry." she replied as she went to step around Kaiza but he moved in front of her again.

"Just come to the party for a while, and if you don't like it we can always bail." said Terumaru as he grabbed her shoulder.

At this contact Ino froze. She couldn't find her voice, her knees felt weak, and she started shaking lightly. The boy behind her turned her around, and they both began leading her despite her best effort to get her body to resist. She could see their lips moving animatedly, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. It felt like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. 'Why is this happening? I'm a ninja! I'm not supposed to be weak!' she thought desperately.

"Hey leave her alone!" shouted a voice. Ino looked up and saw Sasuke, until the tears that she hadn't realized were there, cleared and running towards them was Naruto in his transformation.

Naruto punched the guys standing on either side of Ino, grabbed her hand and started running with her to the inn. Ino could hear shouting following after them, but it eventually died out before they reached the street their inn was on where they finally slowed down.

Ino regained some composure and let go of Naruto's hand as they started walking. "Thanks for that. Weren't you going to the bathhouse though?" Ino asked, glad that he didn't.

"I forgot I don't have any money on me." he replied smiling sheepishly. By the time they got back to their room, Ino seemed fine again. Naruto grabbed some money and stopped at the door. "You going to be alright Ino?"

Ino gave the best smile she could as she replied. "Yeah, thanks again Naruto." He nodded and left. She waited a few moments, when she was sure he was gone, she collapsed on her bed and cried into her pillow.

OoO

**So this chapter comes in the same week as Dragon Age Inquisition and the Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire remakes so hope you're happy to be getting a chapter. (Sorry it's so short.) I've also been playing a lot of Dangan Ronpa 1 & 2. (Anyone for a Killing Konoha Life fic? I already have the cast list I'd use, but I need to flesh out more details before I start writing anything, plus still won't post it till I'm closer to the end of this fic.) As always reviews are appreciated and be sure to put forth your ideas for NaruIno's kids' names.**


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